Ifs and buts
by Sunriserooftops
Summary: How would you react if you found out the one you were meant to be with had already passed on? For Dean Winchester, that's not so much an issue, now that he's woken up in her past... Prue/Dean AU during Season 1 of Charmed WIP
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Charmed belongs to Constance M Burge, Aaron Spelling television company and the WB. Supernatural and other related entities belong to Eric Kripke and Warner Brothers in association with Wonderland sound and vision. All transcripts were found at TwizTv. No infringement intended._

_Spoilers: All through season 1 of Charmed and up to the first episode of season 5 of Supernatural._

_A/N: This is a re-write of__ a fic I lost a while back, I think the re-write is better but I'm going to leave that up to you to decide. Please R&R :)_

_Rating for later chapters!_

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**Ifs and buts**

**Chapter 1. At the end of days**

He breathed heavily in his sleep.

"_Something went wrong, your paths were supposed to intertwine."_

He felt tears burning his cheeks as they ran down his face, the pillow getting moist under him.

"_She's dead."_

He tossed and turned, barely breathing at all.

_Sam had__ stood there, the pool of blood on the floor and-_

Dean sat up in a bed he didn't recognize. What else was new, he thought to himself and looked around the room. Strange thing was, he really had no idea as to where he was. Normally he remembered something from the night before-

_A flash of white, very bright light._

A faint memory of the world ending...

"Oh!" Dean's head was pounding - the headache was out this world and he felt like someone had stuffed a couple of pounds of cotton in his head. And his mouth.

He clicked his gums, feeling his dry throat only getting drier.

He got out of the bed, his feet hitting the wooden floor and he stopped. Wooden floor? In a motel? He looked around once more, trying to take in the room. It looked normal enough, but it wasn't like the motel rooms he usually stayed at. It was cleaner and it smelled different; like strawberries and spices. And unlike so many other times when he woke up, he didn't wake to a grey sky. He stumbled forward to the window and pulled away the sheer white curtain. Strange, he thought and looked out over the bay. Hey, wait, he thought, his mind churning desperatly to remember where he had seen this before.

"San Fransisco," he mumbled.

Prue turned the page, trying to look distracted by the paper, but for real she was listening to the exercise instructor on the Tv saying "Keep going. And press. And press. And press. Keep working through it."

And in front of the small TV, the real source of the distraction was Piper, repeating the movements on the TV-set and sighing heavily before she finally bubbled over.

"Unh! I give up." She turned around and put the weights on the floor and looked Prue, who looked up quickly over the edge of the paper. "Two weeks, and nothing strengthened but my temper," Piper huffed.

Prue put her paper down and picked up the case for the tape next to her on the table. "Piper, see, here's the problem. You didn't read the fine print. It says it right here, 19,95 for the video, and 20 grand for the plastic surgeon." She smiled at Piper as she stretched out on the exercise mat, her head resting on the plastic step stool she'd been using moments earlier.

"Yeah, well, it's worked for her," Piper sighed. "She's the most desired female in Amercia, what every man wants."

Prue looked at the bouncy woman. "That woman? Of course men want her. Men are no different than women. We all want what we can't have, which is why we need to stop thinking about what men want and start thinking about what we want in a man." Prue already knew the answer to her wants. Patience, strength and a nice smile.

"Tons of fun, lots of heat and no strings attached," Phoebe said, coming through the doors to the conservatory. "That's what I want." She took a mouthful of her cereal and smiled.

"Oh, I know this may not sound very P.C., but I want romance. Long, slow kisses, late-night talks, candlelight, I love love!" She looked at her older sister and smiled. "I'd take what Prue has in a flat second." Prue winced, thinking about Andy and all the secrets she had to keep from him on a daily basis. She wished he could handle the truth, but she knew he wasn't ready for it all to come undone on him.

"Mm, but then you'd have to deal with the family secret, which isn't exactly normal, now is it?" Prue picked up her mug of coffee and shook her head bitterly, leaving the room. She desperately wanted Andy to be the one, she did. That meant she had been right way back when, that meant she was with Him right now. But for some reason, she knew that her One wouldn't really have an issue with her being a witch, or everything she had to face every day. Andy would mind, he'd have issues. There was no doubt in her mind. And so the low throbbing headache set in. Just in time for her to have to go to work.

Dean stretched and looked around the room once more. He wasn't in a motel room, he'd managed to figure as much out. This was a real hotel room. He laughed as he realized he must have gotten more than drunk last night - the headache was solid proof after all. He reached into his pocket, looking for his cell. Only it wasn't there. How could it not be there? He always had his cell in his pocket, and he needed to call Sam and let him know where the hell he had gone to. Sam would be worried sick by now, if Dean knew him right.

He looked down, not reacting to this until now. He had bare feet. And a bare chest.

Where were his clothes?

Another look around the hotel room, and no sign of them anywhere. In normal cases spread across a chair, lying on the floor, maybe even hanging from the light in the ceiling. But nope.

Water. Bathroom, he thought and stumbled in the direction of the door that was slightly open. A nice white, tiled bathroom with an orange lighting fixture in the ceiling and fluffy towels hanging by the sink. He smiled as he touched the soft towels and drew a deep breath of the nice fragrance coming off them. Finally! He saw his shirt, only it didn't really look like his shirt, it looked more like those shirts normal guys had. Not flannel but soft cotton. The print was the same as all Dean's shirts, so the resemblance was incredible, but he knew what his shirts felt like - and this wasn't it. He hung it back on the hanger and looked into the shower.

Nice.

He jumped in the shower, the hot water rinsing all his worries from his mind and the dirt off his body. How had he gotten so dirty? He hadn't been digging up any graves lately, so why all the dust and dirt? He reached for the soap, feeling the bubbles forming on his skin and felt like he was in some kind of heaven.

* * *

Andy looked up from the file in his hands at his friend and colleague, Darryl Morris, and put it down on the desk. "Did you see the coroner's report?" he said, almost a little too careful.

"Mm-hmm, Skye Russell died of massive internal hemorrhaging. Her body literally imploded upon itself."

Andy wet his lips and flipped through the file. "Ever seen anything like it before?"

Darryl nodded. "Mm-hmm, on jumpers. But their bodies are usually found on sidewalks."

Andy shook his head, closing the file. "No signs of external damage consistent with any type of a fall. In fact, there wasn't a scratch on her."

Darryl opened his file again and flipped through the pages, stopping on one of the. "Yeah, well, maybe we were wrong. Maybe her body was moved…"

Andy exhaled slowly. "From where? And how?" He heaved himself out of the chair and cracked his neck, feeling a little more than confused by the whole thing. "Her front door was locked and bolted. Each window had bars on it, none of which had been tampered with in any way." He drew a hand over his face and looked at Darryl. "Nobody but she was in that apartment last night." He took another beat, really thinking about it. Suicide. It didn't feel right though, ruling it as another suicide. It didn't make any sense. And he could see Darryl thinking the same thing. That was the best thing about Morris. He could count on him to support his theories for even half a second. "It's not suicide, Morris, and it's sure not death by natural causes which leaves only one thing." He leaned his hands on Morris' desk and he looked up at him. He nodded and at the same time they said "Murder."

"I hate it when we do that," Morris said. Andy nodded in agreement before returning to his seat across from Morris.

* * *

He wiped the steam from the mirror and was starting to feel like a new Dean Winchester, one that had his life under control. He went back out into the hotel room, looking around for a closet. It was a long shot, but maybe...

He gasped, taking a step back as he took in the jam packed closet. Jeans, slacks, suits, shirts, t-shirts, balled up socks and boxers in every colour. The towel around Dean's waist fell and he, without thinking, went to the other door and slid it open - suspicious as ever. To his surprise there wasn't a hotel hallway on the other side.

There was a living room.

He took another stumbling step, this time out into the living room. His throat was still dry...

Even drier now than it had been before the shower. But the room, the living room, it looked - right. A big couch, a light green color that fit well with the brown rug and the wooden floors. The walls had a hint of red to them, but were really more like - butterscotch. It was open, very free and airy. And you could see right over the counter into the kitchen. Dean just stood there, gaping. It was amazing. And everywhere was that same smell; strawberries and spices.

He would later realized, as he got dressed, that it was his fabric softener that smelled like that.

* * *

She felt awkward in her black suit that day, like she had put it on backwards, like the fabric wasn't what it should be, that the office might have become smaller than it was last night. She leaned on her hand and closed her eyes for just a moment.

Her office phone rang, the shrill sound startling her.

"Prue Halliwell," she said in a short tone, her voice a little off from just having fallen asleep.

"This number was last dialed from my phone, and I was just wondering where I ended up."

"Buckland's."

"Yeah?"

Oh, Prue did not like this guy. Besides, he was anyhing but polite, had no phone-manners what so ever. "The auction house, Buckland's auctionhouse. In San Francisco?"

"Oh. And you are?"

"Prue Halliwell."

"Okay."

And then he hung up.

The nerve of some people, she thought as she put the handset back on the base and turned her eyes back to her papers. She took her pen in one hand and rested her head in the other. Slowly, but surely, she was lulled asleep by the soft music coming from her radio. Next time the phone's shrill ring woke her, she picked up to hear Andy's voice.

"Oh, that's so strange, I just had a dream-"

Andy mumbled something that seemed far away and a little distant. She smiled into the handset and said it was okay, they could take a rain-check. She was a little tired anyway and that she should probably head home and sleep some.

* * *

Dean walked past the huge building, the letters on the side of the house saying "Bucklands". He squinted and looked around the street. Auction house? It looked more like another sky-scraper!

Dean went into the house, looking like a lost kitten. He went up to the front desk and smiled his sweet smile, the receptionist all giggly.

"Hey," he said all smiles. "Where can I find Prue Halliwell?"

Prue hurried across the foyer, and somewhere in the back of mind she registered that the receptionist said "That's her over there, in the black dress."

Prue got to the door of the foyer with only one thing on her mind. She was about to reach out and grab the handle when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned around, more than a little annoyed, stroking a strand of hair away from her face. As she turned her body to the man who had put a hand on her arm she felt like someone had punched a whole in her body. He had broad shoulders, hazel eyes that seemed to glow a little more green in the sunlight. He was clean shaven and he looked amazing in the brown suit he was wearing. Her eyes widened, she could feel it.

"Prue Halliwell?" he asked, a nice and rugged voice. She nodded, clearing her throat and then she smiled.

"Yes, that's me. Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually."

She felt a little short of breath, a bead of sweat running down her spine, something that made her want to shiver. His warm hand in her cold one made her feel like her insides might boil any moment.

"Since you already know my name, may I have the pleasure of yours?" she asked, her voice more than it's normal formality that she had taught herself for work.

"Winchester," he smiled. "Dean Winchester."

"A pleasure, I'm sure."

"Likewise. Now, Prue," he smiled. "I need to talk to you, in private if that's possible."

She nodded. "I am actually headed home right now, but if you come back tomorrow I am sure we can have ameeting about whatever it is you need appraised of sold or-"

"No, miss Halliwell – can I call you Prue?" She nodded. "Prue, this isn't about business. I have nothing worth selling or appraising. But, I think we might have some common ground. If you could, I would love to talk to you now."

Prue sighed. As much as she liked this man, whoever he was, she really needed to go home and talk to her sisters. "Walk with me?" she asked and gestured with her head to the exit.

"Why not?" he chuckled, and reached out to open the door for her. She was taken with the gesture, he was sure behaving like a gentleman. She wondered if there was more to him than the suit and the well behaved man she saw now.

Was there any chance that this man could handle...

Oh Prue, what are you doing? she asked herself. You are in no position to be thinking about this guy like that. You don't even know him.

And another part of her, the part that she suppressed all to often laughed. Well, that's the whole fun, it said. A little flirting and a few fantasies never hurt anyone, right Prue?

Dean smiled at her and held the door for her. He looked her over and wondered where he had seen her before, if he had... It clicked as all the pieces fell into place. He had seen her, he had dreamed of her when he was younger. He had seen her like this, and then again a few days later, during a nap in the car, he had seen her as she got in her car, drove out and fell asleep behind the wheel-

He offered her his arm, something new to Dean Winchester, as they continued out on the street. She looked at him, awe and shock in her eyes. But for some reason, she took his arm with a slight smile, a smile that was shy and insecure.

He wondered what hid behind those blue eyes, what was going on inside her mind.

"I know you might think I'm insane," Dean started. "But I think you might be in danger."

She looked up at him, the smiled had faded from her face and she looked grieved. "Yes," she nodded. "I think I might be too."

He smiled at her and was about to say another something when she turned to him, facing him.

"What did you say your name was?" she demanded.

"I'm Dean – Winchester."

"And who are you?"

Jeez, relax, he wanted to say, but he knew she was cautious for a reason. "Let's just say we live in the same world, and I don't mean-" he gestured around them, "-this one."

"How's that?"

Dean leaned in close to her, the scent of her perfume filling his nose. "Some things aren't what they seem, wouldn't you agree? Like this peaceful surface. I wonder what people whould say if they knew what the bumps in the night really were..."

Prue looked at him with wide eyes, the blue becoming clearer as the sun reflected in them. "You know."

"So do you."

* * *

Piper stood her en tippy-toes, sorting through various spices when Prue came through the door. "Piper! Phoebe!" she called, stopping at the sight of Piper with all the spices and containers.

Piper licked her lips and looked a little uncomfortable. "Prue, you're home," she said, straining to sound happy. "I thought you had a date with Andy?"

Prue, putting her hands on the side of the counter, shook her head. "Uh, no, he had to cancel…" She looked the containers over and then frowned, suspecting the answer. "What are you doing?"

"Uhm…" she hesitated.

From the somewhere in the house, Phoebe called "Piper! I was wrong! The spell clearly calls for cayenne pepper not black pepper-" her voice getting closer and not as loud while she spoke. She came into the kitchen and Prue shook her head.

"Ohh," Phoebe said, closing the Book of Shadows, and looking from Piper to Prue. "Did I say spell? I—I meant recipe." The she smiled a sheepish smiled. "We're so busted aren't we?"

Prue nodded. "I would say, yes. What spell are you casting? – Never mind, I need some help. Actually." And for the first time in his life, Dean had timing as he walked through the door from the living room. "We have other things that's a bit more important..." The sisters stared at him. He waved uncomfortably.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:** Charmed belongs to Constance M Burge, Aaron Spelling television company and the WB. Supernatural and other related entities belong to Eric Kripke and Warner Brothers in association with Wonderland sound and vision. All transcripts were found at TwizTv. No infringement intended._

_**Spoilers:** All through season 1 of Charmed and up to the first episode of season 5 of Supernatural._

**_A/N: _**_Thank you all for the alerts and favourites, I really appreciate it. Please R&R :)_

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Chapter 2. Nightmares

Prue sat down opposite the man who called himself Dean Winchester, beside her Piper and on the chair to their side, Phoebe. He smiled at them, looking ever so calm and collected.

"Who are you?" Phoebe asked, her eyes narrowed at him.

"Dean Winchester, I'm a-"

"Warlock? Wizard? Demon?" Piper said the words quickly, her voice a little edgy and hard as she did. He stared at her.

"Neither."

"Then what?" she replied, her eyes burning into his, her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't tell me you're a ghost."

He laughed, and when Prue turned to look at Piper, she could tell she wasn't amused. Prue reached out a hand and put it on Piper's thigh. She looked at her, and Prue smiled slightly and barely shook her head. She knew Piper was still a little stuck on the idea of having feelings for a ghost, and she had been in pretty bad shape when he'd finally passed on. However, Dean shouldn't have to pay for that. Besides, she and Phoebe had been seconds away from casting a love spell when she came walking through the kitchen door. Piper was obviously ready for something new.

"So tells about yourself," Prue said patiently. "And how come you know… So much."

Dean shrugged and pulled his mouth together in one corner. "I uhm, I was born in Kansas. I'm an older brother, always took care of my brother, more or less." Prue knew the feeling in his eyes; he was protective of his brother, not even saying his name proved that. And he felt responsible in a way only Prue could relate too. She'd always been there for her sisters, she'd been out there working for them, to make sure they could be kids. She saw the same flicker of lost time in Dean's eyes.

"Yeah, but, I mean," Phoebe began. "_Who_ are you?"

He smiled, half sheepish, half sad, all together bitter. "I'm a hunter."

Prue scoffed. "A what?"

"A hunter. You know, tracking and killing the supernatural bastards? Demons? Werewolves? Wendigos? Vampires?"

Phoebe stared at him, her jaw slightly dropped and her eyes wide. "Vampires?"

"Not the point," Prue reminded her.

"But-" she looked at Prue. "He said vampires." She hissed it at her, liked Dean couldn't hear her if she did that. Piper sighed and waved both her hands at Dean, who froze; his finger pointed, his mouth open, his eyes half closed – he'd been about to say something.

"Why is this guy here? I mean, yeah, hunter, supernatural, but Prue, have you told him?" She was almost chastising her, and Prue wanted to smile. Piper had sounded so much like her just now.

"No. He knew."

"He knew? And you brought him here, of all places?" Phoebe chimed in.

"Yes."

They stood in front of her, staring down at her like she was a child who had brought candy home from the shop without paying. "Why?" they said at the same time, hand on their hips and smoke almost coming out of their ears. She wanted to laugh. Was this what she looked like when she told them off?

"Because-"

"Because?" Piper repeated.

"I trust him!" She got up from the chair and looked from Dean to her sisters. "Okay? I trust him."

"Brilliant," Piper said, looking from Prue to Phoebe.

"So what do we do with him?" Phoebe said, looking at Dean.

Prue shrugged, a slight smile on her face.

Prue almost jumped, smiled and then took the phone. "This is Prue, who's this?" she said, a half a moment's hesitation. Another pause before she looked a little bothered. "Um, I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"_Yeah, we met at Quake, well, we didn't actually meet, but. I sent you a glass of chardonnay and you sent it back. Still, you know, I was wondering_-" Prue looked at Dean, whom sharpened when he saw her squirm. "-_maybe you'd like to go out some time_."

"Um, oh, look, as I told the waitress," she said, feeling a little more than uneasy. She looked to Dean for comfort and whished Andy had been with her a Quake the night before. Instead of cancelling. Again. "I'm just not available. How did you get my number, my name?" she asked, her voice a little sharper.

But in return she got dial-tone.

"Hello?" she said into the beeping phone. She shook her head and hung up. She then continued to smile at Dean. "Some people…"

"Who was it?" he asked.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Piper and Phoebe at the stairs. "Some guy who sent me a drink at Quake, were Piper works."

"What did he want?" Piper asked.

Prue pursed her lips and didn't know if she should say, but then she knew she would have been pretty annoyed if one of her sisters did that to her. "He asked me out." She sounded a little off, even to herself. Dean put a soft hand on her arm, something that seemed new to him, and he looked a little out of his comfort zone when he smiled tentatively at her.

"Maybe I should stick around, after all?" And for some reason Prue said yes.

"Well, we're gonna go do what we were doing," Phoebe said.

"Excuse me?" Prue said. "Still?"

"Oh yeah, just cos you got some guy calling you, doesn't mean me and this one here," pointing her thumb at Piper. "Doesn't have guy-issues. Come on," she said, yanking on Piper's sleeve. Piper shrugged.

"What she said," she smiled, before following Phoebe.

"You're really serious about staying for a while?" Prue asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I was pointed in your direction for a reason, now I need to find out why."

"Okay, I'll get right on that too, only…"

He smiled at her. She smiled back. "Only?" he asked.

"I would kill for a bath."

"Go. I'll be here when you're done. I'll read some of these magazines I have never seen before in my life," he said, looking at the coffee table full of magazines. "And I'll look around the house, maybe something can clue me in."

"Okay then." She smiled at him again, heading up the stairs. He stood uncomfortably for a moment, then he finally took his jacket off and let out a breath, one he hadn't known he was holding.

* * *

Kit meowed as Phoebe and Piper came into the attic, looking at them from the sideboard she was sitting on. They smiled at her and headed over to the table in the middle of the room, sitting down on the cushions.

"Okay, so do you want to go first?" Phoebe asked.

"No," Piper frowned. "You go first."

"Okay."

Piper lit the candles slowly as then looked at Phoebe who nodded. Without a warning of her sneaky way, Phoebe reached over the table and snatched the paper out of Piper's hand, making her exclaim, obviously not happy. "Hey!" She glares at Phoebe, who chuckles and looked at the paper. "That's not fair," Piper complains. Phoebe gives her a look that says "So sue me" and then returns to look at the paper.

"You want a man who is single, smart, endowed-"

"Employed," she corrects her sharply, but by this point, she was more amused than anything. Phoebe did have a way of making things un-embarrassing. Ha! Yeah right.

"Oh, sorry. "Employed". A man who loves sleeping in on a Sunday, sunset bike rides, ha! Cuddling by a roaring fire-" Phoebe snickered a little, looking up at Piper. "And late night talks. A man who loves love as much as you do." Piper tried to stay unaware of some of the taunting, almost mocking in her sister's voice. "Wow, you really are a romantic."

"Yep," she snapped. "Your turn!" She reached over and snatched Phoebe's list from her, only Phoebe didn't seem half as indignant.

"You want the sexy, silent type that finds you driving through town on the back of a Harley at three o'clock in the morning… A man who appreciates scented candles, body oils and Italian sheets…" Piper looked up at her sister for a moment, the moment Phoebe needed to take back her paper.

"He's about hunger," Phoebe began, sounding like a commercial ad announcer, starting Piper laughing. "And even though you know all this, even though you know he'll never meet your friends of share a holiday meal with your family, you still can't stay away. And he recycles."

Piper snorted and looked at the paper. "He recycles?" she asked.

Phoebe took both the papers, the want-lists and rolled them into a tube. "Yeah, and I think it goes without saying that we both want a man who is, uhm…" She looked at Piper with a spark in her eye. "Well employed."

* * *

Downstairs Dean was flipping through some magazines, hearing distant laughing and the sound of running water. Only it didn't take too long before he was restless and wanted to explore. Besides, the magazine didn't tell him anything he needed to know. He didn't care if lettuce got soggy, or if the drapes didn't match the couch, and the Halliwell's didn't seem like they did either. So, instead of staying on the couch and enduring one more lame article, he got up and walked around the downstairs. He liked the kitchen, it seemed homey and cozy, as did the living room he had just been in, the conservatory he liked; it was so bright and the windows were his favorites.

He drifted up the stairs, going from room to room, slightly out of his head, not paying much attention at all. He could hear Phoebe and Piper upstairs, but the water sound had stopped. Actually. There was a little too little sound coming from the bathroom in general for a bath being taken…

He walked over to the only closed door. He tapped it gently.

No answer.

"Prue?" he said in a low voice. He knocked a little harder, but nothing.

* * *

The bubbles reaching up to touch her neck, the soft murmuring of the bursting and fizzing around her, Prue let herself close her eyes for a moment. She let out a sigh, the bubbles bursting and fizzing furiously as she did, and soon her breathing slipped into being heavy. By her side is a man, as the light in the ceiling turn a little red casting the bathroom in a reddish glow. His leather clothed hand reached out to touch Prue's cheek. At the unfamiliar touch Prue gasped and came alive with a start.

"Hello Prue."

She looked at him and then around the bathroom, only to land back on him. "Unh, who the hell-"

He leaned over the side, getting closer to her, invading her space and looking down into the bubbled water. He touched the bubbles, moving them with his finger, and then looked at her lustfully. "Who am I and how did I get in? Hmm?"

But the way he was acting was setting Prue off – she felt uneasy and more than a little angry. "I don't care, just get-"

"-Out of the bathroom?"

She knew it then, he wasn't safe, he was the opposite and quite frankly out of his mind. She turned quickly yo get the towel on the side of the tub, reaching for it while she called out to Piper, she called for help. Only when she did, he mocked her, doing the same in a weak voice. Then he clamped his hand down over her wrist, stopping her from taking the towel. The smile that lit his face made her skin crawl.

"Scream all you want, Prue. No one can help you."

"How did you-"

"Know what you were thinking? Know what you were going to say?"

She barely got the word out. "Yes."

"I am in your unconsciousness," he said, that same smile on his face that made her skin crawl. "I know you every thought and desire." His eyes were veiled with barely contained lust.

"Who are you?"

With that constant and unchanging smile he reached out one of his black leather hands to touch her, the intent to brush away some of her hair from her face. Only she pulled back, cringing away from him. Still he was overly confident.

"I'm the man of your dreams."

Glaring at him, she said the words the first time. "You're not real. You don't exist."

He smiled.

"That's what your mother used to say, isn't it?" He titled his head. "Every night, before you went to sleep."

"You're not real, you don't exist," she reassured herself.

"As she tucked you in, she'd say-"

"You're not real, you don't exist," she told herself, looking away from the man, up to the ceiling.

"If you saw any monsters-"

Not being able to help herself, she shivered, shuddered and felt her stomach tighten. "You're not real, you don't exist," she insisted.

"-to tell yourself they weren't real."

"You are not real. You do not exist." Her voice trembled as he reached to pick up the bath sponge.

"They didn't exist?" he whispered, getting even closer into her personal space when he started washing her back, kissing her shoulder and breathing on her. Panicked, she tried to shy away, to slap him, to make him move away, to scream. But she couldn't. Not any of it.

"Why can't I move?"

He laughed, a laugh that was haunting and evil and without a doubt malicious. "Because," he said. "I am going to love you," his voice seemed to echo. "To death." Again, the echo scared her. As he brushed the sponge over her bare back, she felt the pain tear into her, her skin being removed, the bloody water and… Prue gasped, while he laughed in pleasure. She could see it in his eyes when she looked at him. The sadist in him was having the time of his life. Suddenly the lights started to flash, as he laughed at her, taking the top of her head in his hand and pushing her down under the water.

No. Not water. Not this way, Prue pleaded struggling against him. The lights flickered and danced above them, as he held her head down. She whimpered, her heart beating a hundred miles a minute and then-

A knock at the door. "Prue?"

She knew that voice. She wanted to call out. The man turned around to face the door and then without warning, the door slid open and everything was back to normal.

Prue emerged from the water, breathing heavy and crying. She curled up into a ball, and Dean just stared at her. "Prue, are you okay?" She started to shake her head, she would have if it was one of her sisters.

"Sure," she barely got out, her voice still stuck with fear in her throat.

"You're sure? Cos you were silent as a mouse and then I heard crying and whimpering and, well, screaming." He looked concerned, leaning against the doorpost and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, I uh, I had a really bad thing."

He frowned. "A thing?"

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm okay now. So…"

"So, you're lying," Dean said. She looked at him, and all the fear she had felt seemed to go away in a spell. She actually managed a smile.

"I am. But, I'll get dressed and we can talk when I get out." He nodded shortly and then looked at her, not the least bit shy. Then another frown creased his forehead.

"Oh my god," he said, taking three long steps into the room and kneeling by her side. His warm skin touched her back, and she flinched. "What really happened Prue?" The worry was thick in his voice, and without thinking about him too much, she grabbed the towl to cover her front and stood up. She turned to the mirror and saw the scratches all the way down her back. She saw Dean's reflection behind her, his face the very mask of worry.

"Oh my god," she agreed.

* * *

"What happened?" he asked, putting a cup of tea in front of her. He was standing leaned against the sink, looking at her softly, while she sat on the stool, shaking her head.

"I don't know. One minute I was alone, tired, so I closed my eyes for a second and the next I knew, _he _was there."

"He?" Dean asked. He took a step forward and leaned on his hands against the kitchen island.

"The man from the restaurant, from Quake, the guy who sent me the wine and-"

"The guy who called you earlier?" She nodded. "That's not good," Dean mumbled. He touched his forehead and covered his face with the same hand. "I hate dream walkers," he said under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Prue said, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He fumbled to cover what he'd just said, but who was he kidding? He was still gonna tell her, maybe not today, maybe not this minute, but soon she'd know just about everything there was to know about him. How, he didn't know just yet. But he knew!

"Dean, just tell me, what is it that has you so- so bothered?"

"A few years back, well, or maybe, no, yeah, a few years back, a friend of mine, of the family, Bobby Singer, he was investigating this guy who could walk into dreams."

Prue's eyes widened and exhaled sharply. "Walk into dreams?"

"Yeah. It took some mojo, but a sip of this tea and then he could go into anybody's head he wanted to – as long as he had something of theirs, like saliva or something like that. Had to put it in the tea to connect to that particular brain."

Prue swallowed hard. "He doesn't have anything with my DNA, I sent the glass of wine back before even touching it. So it can't be the same thing."

And there it was. He wasn't in his world anymore. He was in hers. She had a whole different way of life, a whole other set of problems. "What is it you guys uhm, do exactly?" his eyebrows knitted together and looked at her.

"We're uhn, ah-" she laughed once, sharply and then smiled at him. "We're witches."

Dean looked at her, not looking at her differently or running screaming out the door, he just looked at her. "Okay, that makes everything easier."

She widened her eyes at him and gaped in surprise. "Easier?"

He nodded, a smile lighting his face.

"All right then," Prue said.

* * *

"It's all here, in their FBI files."

Andy threw the folders on Darryl's desk, and he sighed heavily. "Why do you do this to me?" he complained, but reached for the folders anyway.

"Three young women, completely unrelated, except for the fact that they all died the exact same way as the waitress."

Morris waved at the papers with one hand. "Medical examiner lists them all as jumpers. Case closed," he said, trying to sound final.

"Look at the crime photos," Andy said, filling both of their cups with coffee. "All the vics were found locked in their rooms. We got the M.O. of a serial killer here, Morris." Andy took a sip and looked at him. Damn.

* * *

"You've barely slept," Dean argued.

"I still need to go to work," Prue insisted, pouring coffee into a mug, and handing it to Dean before pouring one for herself. "I don't get paid to stay home and sleep Dean, I get payed to sell things. Many pretty things," she said, making it sound like he'd never heard of a job in his life. "And my bet is, you probably have a job too, somewhere." His eyes widened. He hadn't even thought about it.

"Maybe, but you should stay home. Here, were you're safe," he waved at the door leading to the dining room. "He's still out there, somewhere. And he wants you, for some reason that's completely unclear right now."

Prue winced, putting a half hurt face on, until he realized what he had said. He began to babble, but she stopped him, with a put up hand and a laugh. "Don't worry, I didn't think you meant it that way. But I still need to go to work. You should head home and see if you have a job to do too, don't you think?" she asked, her hair swaying as she left the kitchen.

"Is she always this stubborn?" he asked Phoebe.

"No. Sometimes she's worse."


	3. Chapter 3

3. Dream a little dream of me

Dean came home to an empty apartment, one that compared to the Halliwell manor felt cold and empty. He looked around for any sign of a job, but all he found was a list of numbers and a headset. Top of the paper was a letter head, with an address and number. He dialed it, told them his name and soon found out he actually did have a job. Telemarketing. It was the first time since he woke up in this place that Dean Winchester rolled his eyes and made a real snarky comment.

* * *

"Prue, have you finished the, uhm," Rex Buckland looked around the room. "The Cromwell miniatures yet?"

All around the room were stacks of papers, boxes and more things that needed to be catalogued. And now here he was, her effing boss with more boxes for her to catalogue. She didn't really like Rex, actually, she thought he was a bit creepy and very weasel-y.

Prue looked at him. "Rex…" Then she put the phone back to her ear. "Uh, hang on a second, Piper." The file boxes arrived, getting stacked on the other things. "No, I am still cataloging the Rembrandt sketches."

He waved the workers off and then looked at her down his nose. "Oh well, uh, set them aside. The uh, the letter of Ernest Hemingway are now first on the block."

As Rex left Prue felt like growling. "I don't believe it. I'm going to be here all night. Piper, let me call you back." With that, she hung up.

* * *

Dean closed the door behind him and set down the bag of groceries on the counter. For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about Prue, and the fact that she hadn't slept all night. She had to be exhausted by now, and he didn't want her to sleep alone. He threw all the stuff in the fridge and decided to change before going to see her.

* * *

"Hello, Prue."

She knew that voice, it made the skin at the back of her neck crawl, and when she looked up from the tabletop to her desk she saw the man from her dream in the bathtub. She had still to find out his name, and what he wanted with her.

"So we meet again," he smiled. She looks him in the eye and her stomach twitches. "All that work, all those hours," he said, sounding somewhere between chiding and like he pitied her. "You fell asleep at your desk."

Without thinking Prue reached out and took her letter opener from the tray.

* * *

Dean walked out to the car, and for the first time he reacted over the fact that he knew everything. He knew where his car was, and he even found his way around San Francisco. How could he do that?

He shrugged it off and opened the car door, thinking how much he missed the Impala. Well, a Nova would have to do. For now.

Dean put the jacket beside him in the passenger seat and something in him felt like he needed to hurry. He couldn't get there fast enough.

* * *

"Shall I sing you a lullaby?" he asked, coming closer to her, touching her. She was still backing away.

"I don't think so," she growled between closed teeth and kicked him straight between his legs.

He folded over, screaming. "AAH!"

But suddenly he was back over her, as she was backing right towards the edge of the roof.

"No!" she screamed.

He smiled. "Good night Prue." He put his hands on her shoulders and was about to push her, she knew he was.

But the shrill sound of her phone shook her from her sleep and she twitched awake from the desk. She breathed hard when she reached for the phone with her free hand. "Hello?"

"Ah, you're still at the office," Andy said at the other end. Prue let out a heavy breath and smiled.

"Yeah, uhm, can I call you back though?"

When Andy spoke, she heard the worry in his voice. "Sure, I'm at the station. Everything okay, Prue?"

She smiled. "It is now. Thank Andy. Thanks for calling."

"I just wanted to hear your voice," he said, a soft smile in his voice.

"Okay. Bye."

She hung up the phone and exhaled sharply. She was still shaken, feeling like the world was twirling around in hyper speed.

* * *

Andy sat staring at the files. What was it that didn't make sense?

* * *

"No Phoebe, love is a magic between two people that cannot be explained and cannot be explained and cannot be conjured. What we did," Piper said, her hands flailing. "It's just, it's not right!"

Kit meowed loudly as she jumped up on the counter and looked at them helplessly.

"Mm-hmm, even our poor cat's in hell," Phoebe said picking Kit up, holding her close. When she does, she catches a glance of a bunch of male cats outside pawing to get in through the partially opened window. "Ah, shoo, go away you, horny tomcats," Phoebe said turning away with Kit in her arms.

"We need to reverse the spell," Piper said, looking at the cats and then looking at Kit and Phoebe, who nodded. Just then, the phone rang, Piper running to answer it.

"Hello? Prue? Is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm still at the office, but uhm, I fell asleep and that man from my dreams the other night, and he tried to kill me. Again."

"What?" Piper yelped.

"Yeah, I don't understand why. All I know is I'm only safe if I stay awake. If I fall asleep, I'm dead…"

"Stay where you are, Phoebe and I will come pick you up."

"No. No, I don't want to stay here another minute. Look, I want you to look in the book of shadows and see if you can find anything on this guy. He calls himself a Dream Sorcerer, Okay? And, could you maybe… Call Dean?"

Piper smiled. "Yeah. Consider it done."

Prue hung up.

* * *

At Dean's apartment the phone rang and rang, while on the other side Piper was getting worried.

* * *

"I tried calling Dean, but he's not picking up." Piper came into the attic, her stomach in knots. "Nothing?" she asked as she saw the look on Phoebe's face.

"Nada," she answered, looking up from the Book of shadows.

"There has to be something…" Piper moaned, sitting down next to Phoebe, who immediately decided to get up from the floor.

"I'm telling you," she began, beginning to pace as well. "There's no Dream Sorcerer stuff anywhere!"

"But that's impossible," Piper said, thumbing through it. "The Books of shadows has never let us down."

"Well, maybe-" Phoebe smiled. "Maybe he's not a demon. Maybe he's mortal?"

"Then he's got one hell of a power…" Piper mumbled.

"It's not power," Dean breathed, coming up the stairs.

"You're kidding? Then what is it?" Phoebe snapped, hands on her hips. She still didn't know if she should trust this guy.

"Hey!" Piper slammed the Book shut. "Demon, mortal, there has to be some way of stopping him," she continued, getting up from the floor.

"There is," Dean smiled. "And I know how."

The moment of triumph didn't last long, as the phone cut through the silent house.

"It's got to be Prue," Piper said, her voice filled with worry. She and Phoebe sprinted for the stairs, Phoebe only to stop Piper.

"What are you going to tell her? That we can't help? That it's all in the hands of a stranger we know nothing about? That she might not ever be allowed to go back to sleep?"

From downstairs the phone ranf again, the sound almost stubborn.

"Uhh-" Piper started.

"You don't tell her anything," Dean said, pushing past them both in the stairs. "I will."

Piper and Phoebe look at each other for a moment, and then headed down after him.

* * *

She was starting to hate the sound of dial-tone. She wanted to hang up, but if she did, she was alone, and she might fall asleep if she was alone. "Oh come on, answer the phone."

"Hello," said a voice at the other end.

"Dean?"

"Yeah."

"Can you put Piper on?"

"No," he said shortly." She and Phoebe found nothing. They tell you not to worry though."

* * *

He was doing his best calm voice, even though he felt anything but calm. "You're not in this alone, Prue. We'll help."

Behind him Phoebe mouthed "_We _will?" to Piper, who couldn't help but smile.

"How, how can you help when we don't even know what he is?" Prue asked, her voice a degree of desperate Dean didn't like.

"Don't think about that right now, okay? We just need to get you home, safely, and then we'll figure it out. Actually, I more or less already have, but I need you here to do it," Dean said into the phone, before turning to Phoebe. "Talk to her, make sure she gets home." He handed them the phone and pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket.

Piper, whispering to Phoebe, convinced Dean couldn't hear them from three feet away said "She sounds exhausted."

"Just keep talking to her," Dean demanded.

Phoebe grabbed the handset and looked at Dean's back. "Okay Prue, here's what you do. Blast the air conditioning, crank the stereo and roll down all your windows, okay. Wait, no, don't crank the stereo." Dean looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "Okay, don't worry Prue, everything is going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen."

Dean really wished that to be true, when he left them with the phone and headed for the kitchen, he knew he'd seen the root he needed when he first came to the house.

* * *

Prue, listening to her sisters talking at her, to her, around her, about her, trying to keep her awake so bad, she still struggled to stay awake. She was fighting so hard to keep her eyes open it was ridiculous. But finally not even the cold air and her sisters could keep her awake. She leaned her head against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.

"Say goodnight Prue," came the smug voice she'd learned to hate. He started laughing as she watched, in her sleep, how her car moved straight towards a pole at the side of the road, heading for a head on crash.

* * *

"The mobile unit you are calling is not responding or is outside of the calling area…" Phoebe shook her head.

"Dean! She's not picking up again!" Piper screamed, suddenly realizing the full extent of what might happen to her sister.

* * *

On the road, in a crashed car with her head bleeding and glass everywhere, Prue fought to stay awake. In front of her smoke rose from the hood and she knew it was bad. So bad. So tired. So tired… No. No. Have to stay awake, she told herself. Her head still resting against the steering wheel she moved to try to be more uncomfortable.

"Can't fall asleep," she mumbled. "Can't fall asleep…"

* * *

"Trauma One. What do you got?" the ER doctor asked.

"I got a 27 year old female, one on one, car vs. utility pole, Bp 80 over 40, pulse 110, semiconscious at the scene."

The words sounded so mechanic. And really, she could hear them. But she didn't _hear_ them.

The light was pretty bright though. "Pupils are responsive. –Miss Halliwell, hang in there."

She kept mumbling to herself, barely awake anymore. "Must stay awake… Must… stay… awake…"

What is happening, she thought.

"One, two, three, and lift!"

She felt herself leave what she was on, fly through the air and land on a bed. The sudden beeping of machines caught her attention too. Something to listen to, get annoyed at, stay awake by.

A female voice said "Resps are down to 35, pulse-ox is falling-"

Another woman. "How can that be?"

The doctor ordered them to give her 500 something of something and get ready to intubate.

The she heard him, loud and clear, and she really wanted to. "Stay with us Miss Halliwell, stay-"

She really wanted to, but she couldn't fight any longer.

"Damn. She's unconscious."

* * *

He looked her over and she was immediately aware of him. Urgh. Only she couldn't move away from him.

"Do you like the dress?" he asked, his voice smarmy and disgusting.

"I've worn better," she spat, biting back the distaste in her mouth.

"Oh. Yeah."

And that's when he felt free to put his sleazy paws all over her, lifting her up and carrying her over to a bed.

* * *

Dean put his head in his hands, leaning on the kitchen table and feeling a pang of regret. What if this didn't work? Oh, yeah, it had worked with Bobby, but the guy, head been serious bad news and maybe this guy wasn't all human?

So what? he asked himself. Demons and vampires are humans? You've dealt with worse. Now go save her!

He put the hair from her brush in the tea and chugged it, swallowing hard and leaning against the tabletop. Disgusting, as per usual.

But it only ever took a second.

* * *

"Excuse me," Piper said to the hospital receptionist.

"Can I help you?"

Piper tried to smile.

"Yes, you called us a little while ago," Phoebe said. The nurse looked confused.

"Our sister, Prue Halliwell, is here," Piper clarified.

"Oh," he said, checking the papers in front of him. "She's still in Trauma One."

"Is she okay?" Phoebe asked, her voice a little cracked.

"Well, if you go down to the waiting room a doctor will be right with you."

But they didn't hear it, instead they turned to Trauma One and headed in. Piper reached out and took her hand. "We're here. Hold on."

"Help is on the way," Phoebe said.

* * *

In the bed, the guy named Whitaker, Prue had learned, held her, while she's still unable to move even a toe.

From outside she could hear Piper and Phoebe talking, they were scared, telling her that they were there, that help was on the way. Only Prue didn't know how that could possibly be. They wereboth by her bed, who else could help?

"Hey!" the rough voice yelled, cutting through the crappy romantic music and then suddenly a strong wind blew, blowing out all the candles. Prue smiled.

"What the hell?" Whitaker said, getting up from the bed. "What are you doing in here? This is my domain!" His voice almost echoed.

"The hell it is," Dean roared, taking calm steps towards Whitaker.

"Prue," she heard her sisters say. "Listen. Fight. You've still got your powers."

Dean smiled at her, pulling Whitaker's attention towards him, as she fought to get out of the bed he'd placed her in. Dean knes the guy was gunning for him, and not having anything to protect himself with is usually a pretty big drawback in a world ruled by some psycho. Again, not the first time, he reminded himself and continued to barely look at Prue.

"Shall I say goodnight to the both of you? Hmm?" Whitaker asked, smiling, but then he saw Prue. On her feet, which caught him off guard. Dean jumped himwithout hesitation, wrestling and finally getting the upper hand he needed.

He held him a in a choke-hold, looking up at Prue with a relief and a smile on his face. "Now what?" he asked.

"Let him go," she sais, looking strong. He slowly backed away from the guy, getting up by Prue's side. "Let me say goodnight," she hissed to Whitaker and Dean noticed the squint, right before the guys was sent flying off the imaginary rooftop.

He smiled. "Nicely done. See you in a bit."

In a flash everything disappeared, and her eyes fluttered open.

* * *

After all the commotion had died down, Prue was left alone with her sisters. Piper and Phoebe were careful, mostly because Prue looked like she'd been in more than one car accident.

"Prue?" Piper asked, looking at the still form with her eyes open, like they had been frozen open in terror.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked, sounding more than cautious.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"But what about the-"

"He's gone," Prue said, before Phoebe had to finish the sentence.

"I would hope so," Dean said, and Prue couldn't help but smile.

"Hey."

"Hey, how you feeling?" he asked, carrying a greasy bag in one hand and one of those Coca Cola cups in the other. She smiled.

"Better. Is that a hamburger?"

He nodded. "Thought you might like something to eat, something that's not hospital food. The food usually sucks."

"Yeah," she agreed. Phoebe and Piper backed out of the room.

"We'll let you guys talk about, whatever happened," Piper said and Dean smiled at her.

"You did the right thing," he said. "Trusting me."

"Yeah, doesn't mean you've earned all our trust just yet," Piper said. Then she looked at Prue. "But you got yourself a whole lot closer."

They closed the door behind Prue and Dean, watching him sit down.

"Now what?" Piper asked Phoebe.

She smiled. "The future hasn't decided yet," she said.

And then they looked into the hospital room where Prudence Halliwell finally had the chance to start getting to know Dean Winchester.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **_Hi babies! Okay, so new chapter - and I know it's been forever, but I've had a crazy time IRL with graduating college and stuff like that so it's all been a little too much. Anyway, I hope this'll make it up to you. I'm doing that 'posting two chapters to make up for being gone so long' thing and hope to have the 6:th chapter up soon too. Thanks for the continued love on this, I really really appreciate it! **3** :D_

* * *

**4. Something wicked this way comes**

Dean woke up to the sound of the alarm. It was an odd thing to do, get up and have routines. But he quite liked it. And lately, he liked one of them a lot more than the others. Having dinner with the Halliwell's at the manor every Friday.

It had taken him a while to not pack up the car and hit the road; after three weeks he's fingers had been itching to grab the car keys, so head given his car to Phoebe.

A week later his wallet had looked a little fat, so he'd been about to buy an airplane ticket to anywhere. Instead he went out and invested in a bike, one that wouldn't take him further then he could pedal. It was perfect, since he got the exercise he needed too when he rode all over San Francisco on a bike.

He sighed and swung his legs out of bed.

* * *

Coming down the stairs, Prue kept her eyes half on her sister, and half on the stairs. "Just trust me Prue, one hot night is all you guys need to get back on track."

Why, why, why had she gone to Phoebe for advice on love? On Andy? She rolled her eyes and took the last step of the stairs. "I hope you're right," she said, resting a hand on her hip.

"Andy's a cop. You're a witch," they both heard Piper clear her throat, but waved her off. "Expect complications!"

Prue knew she was right, at least about the cop vs witch complication matter. And she hated it. However, she still turned to face Piper and… Oh! Oh, no. Big bad. Leo. He better not have overheard us, she prayed closing her eyes for half a second before she smiled a bright smile at him. "Hey Leo! How's it going?"

He nodded. "Good, uh. Yeah, this wall only needs two coats and then - then I gotta do the molding, and I'm done." He smiled at all the sisters and when Phoebe opened her mouth to ask if he was sure it didn't need a little something extra, she knew there was trouble ahead. Piper hissed something at Phoebe about her outfit and Prue barely registered Phoebe's comeback. She was too busy looking from her sisters to the handsome handy-man. Boy was he in for a whirlwind, if both her sisters set their sights on him.

She watched the whole thing. Leo took a sip, Phoebe noticed, Piper squirmed, Phoebe went in to wipe at his lips and flirt with him, making them both giggle. And she saw the frustration and pain in Piper's eyes.

"Uh, Phoebe, come here," she said, heading for the kitchen. But Phoebe, being Phoebe, ignored her and kept smiling at Leo. Taking a few steps back, trying not to be too annoyed, she pulled at Phoebe's wrist and back towards the kitchen.

Pushing her sister through the door she huffed and looked at her. "I think Piper likes Leo."

"What's not to like?" Phoebe asked. "He's a great guy."

With her back to Phoebe, Prue grabbed the coffee and poured a cup. "No, I mean…" She turned around and really looked into Phoebe's eyes, hoping it would help get her point across. "Really, likes him."

Phoebe smiled. "Your point being?"

Prue sighed, shaking her head and sitting down on a stool. "Never mind. Classic Phoebe," she said under her breath, the last part meant more for herself than for Phoebe.

"Wait, what?" Phoebe narrowed her eyes at her. "Define that."

"I think you know," Prue smiled, the smile a little bitter and maybe a tad too judgmental, but it sent the message it was meant to send. Finally.

"Ok, look, Prue, I think we need to put some major closure on this, or we're gonna be in rocking chairs, slurping oatmeal out of rubber spoons, and I'm still gonna hear about Roger," Phoebe rambled. Thankfully she stopped when Piper came into the kitchen, her eyes low and not meeting either of them as she came in. "Piper. Am I a boyfriend thief?"

Piper scoffed. "Totally."

"Okay, whom, besides Roger – whom I never touched Prue – have I stolen?"

Piper finally looked up. "My boyfriend. Billy Wilson." As soon as the words were out, Phoebe were already laughing. Prue heard the kitchen door squeak, and looked at the shadow. She hid her smile as he took his place listening in.

"Billy… Wil - eight grade Billy Wilson?"

Piper nodded. "You kissed him at homecoming. And please, don't start that whole contact lens thing again." She shook her head and poured herself a cup of coffee. Prue saw the intensity then, the burning in Piper, the light that lit when she met someone. Last she'd seen this was, well, the guy had been a ghost…

"You were all over him, with your breast all… Whatever!" Her hands flailing about so bad she almost spilled her coffee.

"I didn't even have breasts back then!" Phoebe insisted, trying to clear her name. Lost cause, Prue thought as she smiled at Dean.

"Oh Please! You've always had breasts!" Piper spat.

Prue almost laughed, watching Dean lean against the doorpost with a smile on his face, both her sisters totally unaware of the fact that they had just uncovered some deep family secrets to a guy they were still having trust issues with. He snorted, and they both looked his way.

"Don't let me interrupt," Dean laughed. "Please, continue."

Prue, taking a cup of coffee for him, walked over to him, handing him the coffee and giving him a light slap on the shoulder. "Good morning," she said, almost lovingly. She noticed it herself. So did her sisters. Dean, however, seemed clueless.

"I think I'm gonna let the two of you work this out, but just remember, I get the house tonight. No warlocks, no innocents to protect, and especially… No sisters. Just Andy and me." She beamed a smile at Dean and then started out the kitchen, leaving him feeling a little confused.

Not about Andy and Prue, no, he knew she was with him and despite being attracted to her and the fact that he could somehow remember a part of something he couldn't access properly – a long talk with Chuck about someone who was dead – he felt there was a lot more to him and Prue, to their connection. After all, he had saved her life.

"So, yanno, it's not like either of us have a problem finding guys," Piper smiled, and Dean snapped back into his body.

Phoebe snorted. "Please!" And funny thing was, Dean believed them. Both of them were smart, cute, sexy even, they were fun to be around and there was no doubt he would have done either of them if they weren't part of why he felt at home here. So yeah, no problem for those two finding guys. Prue on the other hand…

"So, if one of us, say, got Leo. It'd be okay with the other one?" Piper said, or asked, or both. Her tone was mighty dubious.

"Absolutely," Phoebe said nodding.

"So we can just consider this a friendly competition then," Piper smiled, a big, fat, fake smile. Phoebe nodded again.

"Sure, simple sibling rivalry."

Dean swallowed a sip of his drink and looked from one to the other. "You mean war?"

Piper and Phoebe smiled at him in the exact same way. "Exactly," they said in unison.

Oh, this would be good.

"Have you seen Kit, by the way?" Piper asked when Phoebe had gone.

"Nah, but I can look around."

"Would you?" she asked, having a little trouble asking. "I haven't seen her in a good while…"

He smiled. "I'll have a look around the garden and down the street. She's probably just hiding."

The next words out of Piper's mouth were hard, and he knew it. "Thank you."

* * *

Dean did what he'd promised Piper. He took a lap around the garden, and then another one just to be sure. He called for Kit, who had seemed to like him during the time they had had together, and then he took a walk up and down the street.

Then he went above and beyond, circling the block to make sure she wasn't there. And even though he hadn't seen anything that sent his spidey senses tingling, nothing dark and bothering in the corner or any angels in the kitchens, he had noticed this girl. Just someone like everyone else. Black clothes, black hair, generally dark. Reason her noticed her was simple.

She was hovering.

When he saw her the fourth time in barely any time, he stopped and looked at her. When he did, she decided it was time to go. Good. Go away, he thought and returned to the manor to tell Piper he hadn't found Kit.

She met him in the door, on her way to work, and again she thanked him.

"You know, Piper, I may be a hunter, a killer, I may be out of my head half the times when I do hunt…" She leaned her head to the side and listened. So far he could have done better. "But this life, here, it's different, Piper. And I like it. I'll fight to keep it."

She nodded. "Good, but make sure to not step on any toes while you fight. Despite everything in our lives, we do like them. And the people in them."

Meaning Andy. He wasn't sure what she meant, but he nodded. "Got it."

She smiled. "See ya."

"Yeah, yeah, see ya."

There was something up. He felt out of place, out of time – hell, he knew he was out of time. He'd seen the cell phones and the modern cars, he wasn't an idiot. But he wasn't stupid enough to find out just when he was. Not yet. He wasn't ready yet.

* * *

The black-haired girl standing in their living room didn't seem the least bit shy, she looked around like she could have owned the place and her presence was disturbing – to Piper. Phoebe on the other hand had seemed to take an immediate liking to the girl, another thing Piper found disturbing. But she was grateful to the girl, who'd brought Kit back when no one else had been able to find her. If it hadn't been for the flyers Leo had put up when he'd finished with the wall, who knows what might have happened to Kit. Looking at the girl Piper truly wanted to think she would have given Kit a good home, food twice a day and love when she needed it – not that Kit was the cuddliest cat in the world, but she needed affection. Phoebe stroked Kit over the head and she purred. She turned back to the girl and smiled.

"Um, what's your name?" she said, having found the bills in her purse.

"Oh, no, no, I don't want your money," the girl said, dismissing the hand Piper waved at her. If she didn't want money then…

But the thought was disrupted by an annoyed looking Prue and a smiling Andy who now stood in the doorway.

"Hey Andy," Piper smiled and then turned back to the girl. Not sure why, but there was something about her.

"Hi Andy," Phoebe said, smiling at them both.

"Hey," he said, always the happy man.

"Hey," Prue said through clenched teeth. "I thought you all had plans tonight?"

"This girl just found our cat for us," Phoebe explained to Andy, smiling brightly at both the girl and at Prue.

"Aviva," the girl finally said.

"Well, that's great," Prue said, reaching down her purse for money. "Is 50 bucks enough?"

"Uh, I don't - - I don't want a reward," she said, looking at each of them. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Prue asked, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"About wicca."

Mutually all the Halliwell jaws dropped and Andy's eyes widened. The save-by-the-bell came when Leo came back from the kitchen, no longer in work-clothes. Prue smiled at Andy before she pushed him in Leo's direction.

"Uh, Andy Trudeau, this is Leo Wyatt. You guys chat. We'll be right back," she said, before huddling up to her sisters.

"Ok…" Phoebe mumbled, before six hands were on the girl, Aviva, trying to push her gently towards the door.

"Thanks again for finding Kit," Piper said in a soft voice.

"Yeah, I'm sorry you can't stay," Phoebe said, a little too convincing for Piper's taste.

"I'm… Not leaving," the girl said, as they reached the door. "Don't you understand? I'm one of you," she said, eager and smiling. Okay, that creeped Piper out more than anything. One of them, her ass!

* * *

He sighed heavily and moved around the cramped apartment. So he was restless. So he had a home. So he found himself inconveniently happy when he was with the Halliwells. That didn't mean any of them were going to die. It didn't mean he was going to bring them bad luck. They could handle themselves, he'd seen it with his own two eyes. And even if he sometimes had a hard time believe in good witches and their powers, he needed to believe in them.

Sometime since he had woken up in San Francisco, head made a choice he'd managed to not make. It had been as natural as breathing being around them, seeing what makes a family tick. Another family than his own, that was. Even if the sisters had a mother who'd been killed, their grandmother had raised them properly while their father had been absent, and still was. Even though the loss of their mother, father and, recently, their grandmother, they didn't go looking for revenge. They had each other and they lived like sisters, now. Phoebe had just returned home, he'd learned. After their grandmother's death, and somehow the three of them had gotten past their difference in some ways, and were now a fully functioning family. No need for revenge, just the need to kick the demon ass that threatened their lives. Their normal cookie-cutter lives that contained a house, cars, jobs, pets, friends and even love.

It made him happy there were people out there that wasn't as insane as his father had been, that hadn't raised their kids to be warriors. He was grateful he had the kind of strength he did, but what wouldn't he have given to have the kind of strength Prue had? The kind of loving nature Piper had? Or the fun, spontaneous kind of personality Phoebe had? What wouldn't he have given for Sammy to grow up and have a normal childhood, one with friends and playgrounds and a house to come home to after school, instead of a never-ending line of cheap motel rooms, credit card scams and god only knows what else Sam had been forced to learn, only to end up ending the world.

Hold up. What?

Ending the world.

There was something there. Nagging at the edge of his brain. Trying to get his attention.

Sam. The light and all that blood. He'd brought Lucifer out.

Dean closed his eyes and pushed the memories away, back in the box he'd been storing them this entire time. Sam should have had a normal life, and if he'd had one of those, he wouldn't have brought Lucifer out. The pain and longing bubbled up inside of him and it hurt. It shouldn't have been them, their mother, their father, and their lives. They should have been just like everybody else.

Crap.

He dried the tears from his cheeks, staring at himself in the reflection of the window.

* * *

Under Aviva's heavy gaze, the popcorns in Andy's hands started popping and they all reacted quickly, but Piper was quicker than Andy. She froze the room, Leo and Andy standing there about to turn and look at the popping popcorns.

"Very cool," Aviva smiled and looked at them, walking up to the two frozen guys to circle them and wave a hand in front of one of them to see if he was really frozen. When Leo didn't flinch as she did this, she seemed more than satisfied.

"Wait," Piper said looking at Aviva. "You didn't-" She turned to her sisters, almost a note of hysteria in her voice. "She didn't-" Then back at the smiling girl. "You didn't freeze!"

Aviva's smile was almost a shade of mischievous when she said "That's because I'm a witch too."

Prue looked at her, incredulous. "A what?"

"Look, I just want to be friends," Aviva declared solemnly.

Piper wrung her hands, nervous beyond words as the reaction of the soon to be unfrozen guys in their living room. "Guys, we have about twenty seconds until they unfreeze."

Phoebe took a step towards Aviva, with a soft smile on her face. "How did you find out about us?"

"I'm gonna need more than twenty seconds for that," she laughed, and Phoebe looked at her sisters.

Under her breath Piper told her sister they needed to hurry.

"Okay," Prue barked. "You need to get out of here, now."

The despair in Aviva's eyes was a little to obvious. "What? Why?"

But, without answering, Prue pushed the girl at the door, only thinking about having her gone when the guys unfroze.

* * *

Dean sipped his coffee and leafed through that morning's paper when Prue came in the door. "It's not what you think, Andy, it's, it's hard to explain. It just-"

Piper, putting a plate in front of Dean with breakfast and then another one for herself on the table, saw down opposite him.

"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?" he asked, cutting at the bacon. Piper laughed and took a fork full of eggs.

"Oh yeah, after last night," she made a face and then pretended to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "I would say so."

Turned out to be one of those mornings when Dean was really curious and would have traded his left leg for super hearing so he could hear the other side of the conversation. The one side was getting a little boring.

"Look, I wanted you to stay," Prue defended herself. "You have to believe me."

Pause. Her fingers met her forehead.

"I told you, something came up. Sister stuff. I can't really go into detail without betraying someone's secret."

Short pause, this time she probably cut him off with the way she said his name. "Look, Andy, I'm unpredictable, ok? That is just part of who I am" She turned to look at her sister and then turned her icy blue eyes on him. "And you have to accept that, because I can't change it." He frowned at her, and she turned away from him again, leaning against the kitchen island.

"All right, let's just try again. Tonight, uh, same time, same place?" Then she smiled. "Okay, so, what? Eight o'clock?" Then she nodded to herself and looked over at the breakfast table. "All right, bye." With a small sigh she put the phone down and headed out to the wash room, pulling clothes out.

With a strange feeling of losing his will to eat, Dean left the table and jumped up on the drier next to where she was standing.

"What is this all about?" he asked her softly, getting a deadly glare in return.

"It was pretty close," Piper said, leaning against the doorway to the utility room. Phoebe appeared behind Piper with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands. She waved at Dean and he waved, smiling, back at her.

"Too close," Prue muttered at the laundry, pushing Dean's legs out of the way. "The question is, who is she?"

"And what does she want?" Piper added quickly.

"Okay, can we try to not forget that Aviva found Kit?"

Dean snorted and looked at the other two sisters, both of them suspicious. "Yeah, she's probably the one who stole her to begin with."

"Hell-lo! Paranoia check!"

Prue grabbed the basket with the fresh laundry and pushed past her sisters to get to the kitchen. "Phoebe, for all we know she might be a warlock."

"She can't be," Piper chimed in. "She didn't freeze," she explained as her older sister gave her a heavy and almost glaring look. Dean couldn't help but smile. How many times hadn't he given Sam that very look?

"Besides," he said, drawing attention from brewing fight between Phoebe and Prue. "Didn't she say she was a witch?"

The basket of clean clothes hit the table, just barely missing his plate. "Okay," Prue said, giving them that as she started to fold some of the clothes. "So, a bad witch maybe?"

"Yeah, a bad witch with a really cool power," Phoebe scoffed. "Better than mine, that's for sure."

Dean titled his head and smiled at her. "Better than no power at all."

She smiled back at him but was interrupted by Prue.

"Why are you so quick to defend her?" Prue snapped.

"Why are you so quick to condemn her?" Phoebe snapped back.

"And, if she's a witch, a good witch, then…?" Dean asked, trying to break some of the tension.

Piper almost smiled. "Then it might be kind of cool, considering she's the first one that we've run across."

"Exactly," Phoebe beamed.

Prue growled under her breath, obviously annoyed with all of them as she glared at the,.

"Hey, okay, listen," he said, putting a calming hand on her bare arm. "You don't know anything about her – how she got her powers, how she found out about you three. You barely know her name-"

"She tried to tell us," Phoebe said hurried. "But SHE kicked her out!"

"Yeah, she would have exposed us if I hadn't. She nearly did!" Prue half-screamed back at her.

"Prue, she's just a kid," Phoebe said helplessly. "Besides, if she is a witch, she probably feels as alone as we do. Maybe she just needs some friends."

Prue smiled a dark smile. "Or maybe, just maybe, she's out to destroy us." She looked at Dean and then added "It wouldn't be the first time," just to clarify. He knew the feeling.

"Okay." Phoebe was out of steam, for now, and Dean felt relieved. He could only imagine how Piper felt, always being stuck in the middle. He looked at her, her eyes turned down and away from them. Yep. Definitely uncomfortable.

"All right, until we know who she really is, let's just steer clear, okay?" she asked, her icy blue eyes burning into Phoebe. She slowly nodded. All the while Dean kept looking from Prue to Phoebe, it was almost like a good fight. Almost.

"Okay, I hate to break this love-fest up, but I'm late for work." He went over to the table and drank the last of his juice.

"Yeah," Prue said. "Me too." She looked after Dean as he left through the back door from the utility room. She headed out of the room, just about hearing Piper agreeing:

"Me three."

With the kitchen empty, Phoebe felt exhausted already. Had the day only just begun?

The phone buzzed and she reached out for it, still in a daze.

"Hello?" She smiled to herself. "Aviva?"


	5. Chapter 5

**5. Mirror, mirror**

On the floor the small handkerchief was spread out in a fragile square with four lit candles burning around it. On the floor next to the handkerchief and the candles were two women, facing each other with slightly awed expressions as the younger of the two held up her hands.

"Don't be afraid," Aviva offered, her palms facing up and Phoebe putting her hands on Aviva's.

"Okay. Now what?"

"Watch," Aviva said, with a slightly fanatic expression that Phoebe gladly overlooked. As Aviva smiled into the mirror that she just barely could look into, the mirror changed somehow; glowing. In the parts that Aviva could make out, she made out the shape of an angelic woman. A woman Aviva knew as Kali, her guide into this world.

Aviva smiled. "She's giving it to you too."

"Who is? Giving me what?" Phoebe asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

"The power. Here. Touch this," Aviva said as she reached out and grabbed a wilting looking potted plant. She put it down in front of Phoebe and nodded to her in a 'go on' kind of way. Phoebe put her finger into the soil and flinched a little as the plant suddenly started growing, changing and flowers that hadn't been on the thing for years suddenly burst out from nowhere. Pulling her finger from the soil Phoebe felt confused, a lump in her throat as she stared at her finger. At her finger that glowed red.

"It's the power of heat, see. Your hand is like the sun."

"Whoa!" And they giggled, while Phoebe looked a little incredulously at her hand.

"That's pretty cool, huh?" Aviva smiled and Phoebe nodded absently as the door opened slowly.

"Phoebe, are you-" Prue began, stopping in her tracks as she looked at Phoebe and Aviva on the floor. Phoebe, reacting to her sister voice, turned around with a half-apologetic smile on her face.

"Prue…"

"What are you doing?" Prue asked, her voice a shade of ice Phoebe knew all too well. She stood up, facing Prue, while Aviva got up from the floor. Phoebe looked at Prue, trying to think of a thousand explanations to placate her older sister – the way she'd done all her life. With another one of her half-smiles Phoebe opened her mouth, only to have her own words snatched out of her mouth, dead on the floor when Aviva cut through the silence with a hostile snarl.

"Get out," she said, taking a step toward Prue as if would be an actual threat. "This is her room."

"Aviva," Phoebe began, knowing all too well why Prue would be a little ticked off, and actually understanding it too. But when it came to her powers, Phoebe felt the weakest and only wished she really had the kind of power Aviva had shown her. An active power!

"No," Aviva said, again cutting her off. "She treats you worse than my aunt treats me. It's not right!"

"It's okay," Phoebe said, her voice soft and trying to keep it mild. Aviva was getting bent out of shape for nothing, and she knew it. "Relax."

The shrill sound of the doorbell sounded and Prue turned out of the room, leaving the two behind. With a heavy sigh, Phoebe left Aviva in her room and followed Prue, knowing she had to do some damage-control. ASAP.

"Chianti, 'Body heat', what do you think?" Andy beamed as she opened the door. He was so happy, so enthusiastic she could almost touch it as if came off him in waves. He looked like a little boy as he looked at her.

"Ah," she managed to get out, before Phoebe came running down the stairs and interrupted her with her 'I can explain'. Thankfully, Phoebe being somewhat more in tune to the needs of romance, stopped short and gasped.

"Oh no," Phoebe managed, as Prue shot her a dirty look that was somewhere between 'I wish you were never born' and 'Why don't you ever think?'.

"Oh, no, let me guess," Andy said in a semi-sour tone that made Prue's stomach flip uncomfortably. "Rain check?"

"Andy…"

"Prue, this is," he began, stopping only to search for words while he eyed her thoughtfully. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I know," she said, trying to sound as excusing as possible with her eyebrows meeting carefully in a frown that she hoped showed she cared about him. "Believe me, you have every right to be upset, and I can't talk about it right now but, I will." She saw the shadow of Dean on the sidewalk and snapped her eyes back on Andy. "I promise. Tomorrow? Quake, one o'clock? Please?"

She had just about finished when Dean appeared behind Andy's back, making Andy glance back at him with a scowl. "Okay," he said, still looking at Dean. "Tomorrow." His eyes met Prue's and her stomach flipped again. "One o'clock." There was no give in his voice, and she knew that look on his face. But still, she waved at him, feeling totally and helplessly sheepish and then turned to Dean, who was on the receiving end of the famous Andy Trudeau glare. She, on the other hand, gave Dean what she considered a dazzling smile.

In silence, she let Dean in the house, closing the door behind him and standing there in mutual silence as he hung his jacket and turned back around to finally say something, when he caught a glimpse of Aviva on the staircase.

"What the hell is she doing here?" he growled silently, for Prue's ears only.

Prue gave him a weary look and shrugged. "I have no idea." Both of them turning to Phoebe, Prue registered the almost resigned look on Phoebe's face. "We said no, Phoebe. What is she doing here?"

"This is her house too, okay?" Aviva mouthed off. "She can do whatever she wants," and then she added a little scoff.

"Aviva," Phoebe warned. "She's not what you think," Phoebe said, almost pleading with Prue as she did.

"She doesn't understand, Phoebe. She'll never understand," Aviva said, pushing past Phoebe and then past both Prue and Dean only to be swallowed by the darkness outside the house.

"She might be right you know," Prue said with a heavy gaze in Phoebe's direction. "I really don't."

"Urgh," Phoebe huffed and stomped back up the stairs, heading for her room. With another sigh, Prue turned to Dean and looked at him, her eyes drained of emotion.

"Now, are you going to tell me what you're doing here, or do I have to figure that out too?"

Dean grinned at her, and pulled out a small book from the large pockets in his jacket. "I was just going to return this. I had no idea I would get a show too."

She chuckled, taking the book from him and shook her head. "Might as well make it dinner and a show then. There's food in the kitchen."

And then she followed him through to the kitchen, where she yet again caught him up on the mystery that was Aviva.

The day began the way all days began at the Halliwell manor lately. Prue, Piper and Phoebe gathered to eat breakfast around the kitchen table, Dean showed up just in time to get the last of the coffee and read the sports pages before they all had to run off in different direction. Even him. It was a pleasant pattern that seemed to fit them all and the little addition of Dean to the table seemed to balance out the odd sisterly arguments.

Phoebe blamed the fact that he was a man, and no matter how familiar he was getting, he was still a man and some thing just shouldn't be discussed in front of the opposite sex.

Piper, on the other hand, saw something different. She was feeling more relaxed around Dean, ever since he'd saved Prue's life, and she could tell he would be able to handle their drama as well as they could. As for her part in keeping the sisterly arguments to a minimum, well she just figured he added some much needed balance when he put his opinion into the mix. He was the outside looking in, able to see things without the years of fights and secrets.

Prue hadn't really noticed, apart from the fact that she left for work feeling a bit more refreshed than usual. She didn't have a headache until she was halfway through her day lately, and she enjoyed having someone around he talked about something else than dating and witchcraft. Granted, Dean was pretty much a big mystery still, but he was good at small talk and he was gifted when it came to making her laugh with his stupid little jokes and silly innuendoes.

Dean had noticed the shift in the sister, but he didn't mind. He saw it as a good thing, and he was infinitely happy about not having to have breakfast and coffee in his apartment. Where he had to spend all day calling people from all over the country to ask if they were happy, if they were satisfied with their current supplier. He hated telemarketing. And he was a little antsy, the tiniest bit restless and he almost longed for some kind of a fight.

"Okay, that's it," he said, putting the paper down, taking the last – cold – mouthful of his coffee and then stood from the table. "I'm outta here. If you need me," and then he made the little waving thing with his hand that he had added to his repertoire of gestures.

"Me too," Prue said, repeating the last sip of cold coffee and throwing her part of the paper on the table. Third Piper did the almost same thing, not downing the last of her coffee but getting up and pouring it in the sink.

"Me three."

They all left, Phoebe rolling her eyes at the routine of it, and then continued to read her paper.

But the day changed, come late afternoon, when Aviva showed up on their doorstep, shaking just as the sun was setting.

"Thanks," Aviva mumbled as she accepted the steaming cup of tea Phoebe handed her.

"You poor thin, you're shivering," Phoebe said, rubbing Aviva's arm.

"I'm okay," she smiled, aiming for brave before she looked at Prue. "I know you don't like me, and I know the last thing you want to do is to help me, but," her breath caught and then drew a breath. "But I don't know where else to turn. I don't have anybody else." When she finished, her eyes were slightly teary and she made a sniffling sound that should have awoken some kind of empathy.

Piper, fresh off the phone, came back into the kitchen. "She's telling the truth, her aunt was admitted to the hospital," she said in a low voice, intended only for Prue.

"How is she? Is she okay?" Aviva said, almost frantic with worry.

"She had a broken arm and a concussion."

Prue narrowed her eyes at Aviva and nodded slightly. "How did she fall again?"

"I, I don't know. I… I heard her scream, and then I found her on the floor and I called 911," she said, finished it a little too quickly, and with a tad too little emotion. "I promise if you just let me spent the night and get some sleep; I'll tell you everything you want to know about me tomorrow."

"She can't stay alone," Piper said, her voice a shade or two of sympathy.

"She can sleep in my room," Phoebe said, not taking her smiling eyes off Aviva.

"No magic," Prue ordered and Aviva looked at her.

"I swear."

Prue nodded, holding her hand out for the phone in Piper's hand. Piper looked at her, a little quizzical, but didn't say anything. Phoebe and Aviva headed out of the kitchen and upstairs as Piper started cleaning up the kitchen. While the house was somewhat silent and still alive, Prue snuck out of the kitchen and onto the porch, making sure the door was closed and none of the windows above her were open. Then she dialled the number of one Dean Winchester.

"Dean," Prue's voice greeted him. "Aviva's here."

Dean narrowed his eyes at the wall he was staring at while on the phone. "Why?"

"Her aunt's been in an accident," she said, her voice a little stressed. "She's staying the night."

"And you're letting her?" he questioned, the same tone he'd used to use on Sammy when he did something really stupid.

"She's sixteen, Dean," she answered, apparently a lot more sensitive to the tone of his voice than Sammy had ever been. "I can't throw her out. But…"

He waited for a little while, but when she said nothing more he repeated "But?"

"But we don't have to be alone with her," she said, her voice soft and careful, as if she was afraid he was going to turn her down.

He smiled at the wall now, all the annoyance from before suddenly gone and he almost chuckled. "I'll be right over."

Aviva had never felt more normal than she did that night, sitting on the couch in Phoebe's room, watching the older girl sleep. She was waiting; waiting impatiently for the next step, hoping things wouldn't get out of hand.

Then, slowly, the mirror started to glow in the familiar warm way she loved so much, and she approached it carefully, not to make a sound.

"It is time," the angelic figure whispered to her and Aviva smiled in return. She slowly made her way to the door, which she opened as carefully as she had done everything else. No sound was going to mess this up for her. Not now. Now when she was so very close.

She closed the door to Phoebe's room behind her and quietly made her way down the hallway, glancing behind her to make sure there was no one around. She was feeling a little anxious, not knowing how this was going to turn out, but she held her fingers crossed as she reached for the closed door she was aiming for. The knob was cold against her flushed skin, and the door opened without a sound.

She opened the door enough to see Prue, in her bed, sleeping peacefully.

Slowly her hand let go of the door and started a motion she didn't get to finish.

"What are you doing?" the husky voice asked from behind her. Spinning around she looked right into a pair of hazel eyes that looked all that much clearer now that he was almost hovering right over her. Reaching for the handle, Aviva closed the door again and made an excusing smile.

"Uhm, I was just looking for the bathroom," she fumbled, still under the heavy glare of the man. What was his name? Phoebe had mentioned him in passing earlier… Oh, right. Dean.

He lifted a hand and pointed with a wry smile. "It's down the hall to the right."

"Oh, great, thanks," she said in a hurry. "Good night." She then passed him and headed for the bathroom, a little out of breath at almost being caught and her heart hammering away in her chest.

Dean slid the door he was standing in front of open, just enough to see Prue in there. Still sound asleep and his worries dissipated. He closed the door again, wondering just what Aviva was playing at. Prue had done a smart thing, calling him over, or God only knew what might have happened if Aviva hadn't been caught in time…

With his eyes on Prue, he helped her put on her jacket and smiled at her as she smiled in thanks.

"I'm going to the hospital to see her aunt in an hour," she informed him and Phoebe. "I'll be back, okay?"

"Yeah," both he and Phoebe nodded. He grabbed Prue's arm and pulled her aside for a moment, her eyes lighting up in the strangest way when he leaned in.

"Look, I'm glad you called me last night, 'cause-"

The door to the kitchen opened, almost knocking him and Prue over and Dean turned to stare at Aviva.

"Whoa. Didn't know you were in there," he said in semi-mocking tone of voice which made the girl smile.

"Sorry."

"What?" Prue whispered as Aviva headed over to talk to Phoebe.

"Later," he nodded, turning around and heading into the kitchen just barely hearing Prue on the other side of the door.

"Aviva, I'm gonna go see your aunt, let her know where you are. We'll talk when I get back."

"Oh yeah, sure. Tell her I love her," Aviva said, and to Dean's ears the statement sounded strained.

"Okay."

He scratched his chin, the rough feeling of stubble against his fingers making him realize it had been a while since he had spent some real time taking at home, apart from sleeping, working and eating. He heard Aviva and Phoebe talking, about food, and assumed it would be best if he ducked out before the girls hit the kitchen. So he snuck out the back door and made his way home, thinking about how he'd found the girl hovering outside Prue's bedroom.

His stomach knotted.

Prue was sitting next to the woman the nurse had told her was Jackie, Aviva's aunt. The woman looked bruised and most certainly like she had fallen down a stairs.

"I don't understand," she said. "Why is Aviva staying with you? I don't even know who you are," she added, her forehead creasing with worry.

"Uhm, well, actually, we just met your niece," Prue began. "We lost out cat a while back, and she found it for us."

"Oh," Jackie said, a light bulb going off. "That's what she was hiding."

"Hiding?"

"In the closet," Jackie explained, her face flattening out again. "She wouldn't let me go anywhere near it. You're lucky she didn't sacrifice the poor thing," she said in a strongly disapproving tone of voice that made Prue snap her eyes back up to Jackie.

"I'm sorry?" Prue was sure she'd heard her wrong, but there was always the off hand chance…

"She's a strange kid. Very troubled. All sorts of weird stuff. Black magic, voodoo, god knows what else," Jackie said with a shake of her head. "No wonder she doesn't have any friends."

"What makes you think she's into black magic?" Prue said in a half serious, half mocking tone she had picked up from Dean over the last couple of days. That way she was not really asking, merely sounding interested.

"Oh, you should see her room. It seems like every time I walk past she's in there, chanting or something. Sometimes I swear I even hear other voices. I know she's not happy there," and the frown returned. "I'm only taking care of her until her mom gets out of rehab."

"Do you mind if I stop by your place and pick up some things for Aviva?" Prue asked, seemingly concerned for Aviva; truly concerned for the safety of her family.

"No," Jackie said, leaning back against the bed again.

"Great, thanks," Prue smiled, getting up from the seat next to Jackie's bed. "Feel better."

And then she made a quick exit, her mind reeling from all the information Jackie had given her that Aviva had been so reluctant to. No wonder. Black magic?

She frowned and pulled out her car keys.

Andy gritted his teeth, feeling his patience run out as he sipped his water. Quake was pretty packed already, it was lunch after all. He looked up to see Piper returning to him, an apologetic smile firmly placed on her face.

"Andy, I can't seem to get a hold of Prue," she started. "I know she was going to the hospital-"

Andy stood up, reaching back into his pocket for his wallet as he bit his bottom lip and shook his head while he almost shrugged.

"That's all right Piper, thanks for trying," he said sourly.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly good-"

"Explanation, yeah." He scoffed, looking at the table still, but knowing Piper had that same almost desperate look in her eyes that Prue had had the night before. "Want to bet?"

He dropped some of the bills from his wallet onto the table, knowing it should cover it and leave a little tip. He heard Piper sigh as he walked away from her with firm steps. He was fuming inside and he just didn't know what else to do.

Prue had been in Aviva's bedroom for a bit, looking around, when she saw the diary sticking out from under her bed. She bent down and picked up, opening it to the page where the pen rested.

"Kali says we're close to taking over the Halliwell coven. I hate lying to the-" She stopped herself and reached for her cell phone, dialling home.

"Hello," Phoebe chirped on the other end.

"It's me," Prue said, her words almost jumbled as she hurried.

"Prue? Where have you been? Piper called, said you were supposed to meet Andy at Quake," Phoebe chided her. How ironic.

"Yeah, listen, we have bigger problems to dead with. Call Piper back and tell her to come home, right now. I'll explain it to you guys later. And Phoebe? Whatever you do, don't let Aviva out of your sight, okay?"

She heard the almost choked sound on the other end. "Yeah, sure," and relaxed a bit.

"All right, bye."

She pressed END and looked back down at the book in her hands shaking her head before putting it back where she had found it. She hurried out of the apartment and for her car.

Phoebe aimed a smile at Aviva. "Prue's on her way home. We can have our little chat when she gets here."

Aviva nodded and then looked at Dean as he came back. "Yeah, okay. Uhm, do you mind if I go upstairs and lie down? I'm not feeling real well," she said, shifting her eyes from Dean to Phoebe.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Okay." And with that Aviva got up and left the kitchen.

"Where did you go to?" Phoebe asked, narrowing her gaze at the fresh guy in her doorway.

Dean smiled one of his crooked smiles and chuckled. "I went home to take a shower. And change. And shave," he said, rubbing his chin as he stuck it out to her. She laughed, a short laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. She looked over at the chair Aviva had been sitting on and realized Aviva had forgotten her sweater. The moment she touched it her head flooded with images.

It was Prue's bedroom, and Aviva was kneeling on the floor when Prue opened the door. A fireball headed straight for Prue and-

Phoebe gasped, looking up into Dean's worried eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Not being able to talk just yet, she nodded and felt her stomach clench as she heard a car door slam outside.

"Prue's home," Dean said, peering outside over the curtains.

"Oh no," Phoebe gasped and rushed out of the kitchen, leaving a confused Dean behind her.

She was so nervous. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she was shaking as she was kneeling on the floor of Prue's bedroom. Then she heard the footsteps outside and everything seemed to slow down, just a little bit. She could hear her heartbeat and felt it with every breath. Was this really the right thing to do? Yeah, of course. Kali had told her it was the right thing, that she would have a family this way.

She exhaled slowly just as the door opened and she fired off one of the fireballs. But all too late she registered it wasn't Prue in the doorway.

It was Phoebe.

"Aviva?"

And the fireball was already on the way, rushing through the air, aimed for Phoebe.

"Aviva!"

The fireball hit the small black bundle in Phoebe's hands, setting her sweater on fire and Phoebe automatically dropping it to stomp out the fire.

Horrified, Aviva stood up, looking at Phoebe as she clutched her injured arm to her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Phoebe spat at her and Aviva felt her eyes tear up.

"Phoebe, I'm so sorry!" She managed to get the words out, just before the urge to rush out overwhelmed her. She was grateful Phoebe didn't stop her.

What the hell, Dean thought, hearing the yelling and then the muffled thudding sound. He got up from the couch in the living room, and just barely saw Aviva rush out the door.

"Phoebe," he whispered and ran up the stairs. Prue's door was open, and it smelled like smoke. "Phoebe?" he called out and looked in Prue's room.

"In here," she called from the bathroom.

He looked at her in the mirror and frowned. "What the hell happened?" he asked, looking at the furiously red mark on her arm.

"Fireball," Phoebe sighed and Dean felt his eyebrows rise up into his forehead.

"Huh."

"Yeah," Phoebe muttered and applied some ointment on the burn.

"You're okay?"

"She was going to kill me," then she shook her head, as if to clear it. "I mean, Prue. She was going to kill Prue."

Dean heart stuttered in his chest and he walked over the counter in the bathroom. Phoebe was struggling with the wrapping, so he took it from her and carefully wrapped her arm the way her had wrapped up himself a time or two too many. She smiled at him.

"Who knew you had such a gentle side, hunter?" she teased.

"Gentle my ass," he mumbled and put a piece of tape to keep the wrap where it was. "You're all good to go."

"You've done this a time or two?"

He smiled a weary smile. "Since I was a kid," he admitted and then left her in the bathroom, not quite ready to reveal his past. Or, actually, his future, as it was.

Looking through the Book of Shadows, Prue mumbled "Kali," over and over, hoping it would somehow do the flippy thing it did sometimes and show them what they needed to know.

She felt Dean hovering, pacing the carpet, and her sisters beside her in the same nervous manner.

"Dean," she said in a warning tone.

"Hey, don't hate on me, I'm the worried one here. I didn't try to kill you," he said, his eyes fierce. She nodded, just as Piper found the page they were looking for.

"Kali, an evil sorceress cursed into her own dimension, she appears in reflections and has the power to possess..."

Prue picked up where Piper's voice was trailing off into silence and finished it. "…innocents, and uses them as pawns to steal a witch's power."

"Wait," Piper said. "I don't understand. So she was using Aviva to try and turn us into bad witches?"

"Does it say anything about how to get rid of her?" Dean said, impatient as always when it came to getting rid of the baddie. But the sisters had yet to learn that particular trait of his personality.

"Uh, yeah," Prue said with a worried look in his direction. "Shatter her reflection. That's how you get rid of her."

"And how the hell do we do that?" he asked, once again frowning.

Prue shrugged, handing the book to Piper. "Here."

But just as she did, the attic door shattered into a million pieces, revealing Aviva on the other side.

"Aviva," Phoebe breathed.

"Hello Phoebe, How's," Aviva's voice changed, distorted, and suddenly it wasn't Aviva at all. "The arm?"

"You're not Aviva," Phoebe said, almost pulling off her calm façade.

"You're not kidding," Dean snarled when he took in the possessed shape of the girl. The girl who them aimed a fireball in the direction of the sisters. Prue managed to push Phoebe and Piper out of the way, the fireball hitting a table which burst into a million pieces, much like the door. The splinters showering up over Dean, who ducked down behind another table.

"Phoebe," a panicked shriek came from Aviva. "Help me!" Then the figured cleared its throat and Kali was back. "Hmm, never mind," the demon purred. No, wrong, Dean thought, not demon. Just you average evil sorceress.

Another fireball aimed, but badly so, because it hit the sewing dummy beside where the sisters had landed.

Kali narrowed her eyes, narrowed Aviva's eyes really, and let out a sound that could have been a laugh. "My powers are greater than yours, Prue. It's only a matter of time," she said.

"Time!" Phoebe exclaimed, the light bulb going off almost as loud as a gong. "Piper, that's it. Freeze her!"

"Aviva doesn't freeze," Piper reminded her quietly.

"Yeah, but Kali will," Phoebe's eyes glittered with triumph.

Piper waved both her hands and froze Kali in her Place, while Aviva fell to the floor. And for the handful of moments that followed, everyone in the attic just stared at the frozen shape of Kali.

Dean pointed at something behind Piper, and she turned to see the huge, covered up mirror. She pulled the cover off it and nudged Prue.

"Prue, the mirror, move her into the mirror," she whispered hurriedly. Dean smiled as Prue pushed the mirror with her mind, tossing Kali into the mirror with all the force she could muster. And when she did, Kali unfroze only to find herself trapped in the mirror once more.

"NO!" she screeched and pushed her hands to the inside of the glass.

"Phoebe," Dean called as he tossed her an iron poker from the rack behind him. She grabbed it mid-air and swung it, shattering the mirror and the reflection of Kali disappearing as the shards sailed through the air.

Aviva ran her hands through her hair and smiled at her reflection, seeing Phoebe behind her.

"Thanks for the dress," she said softly, saying thanks for more than just the dress, but also for the kindness they had shown her despite her attempts on their lives. She really didn't remember much of it, but she felt bad anyway.

"No problem," Phoebe smiled back. "It's Prue's," she said as she put Kit down on the floor. "You all set?"

"Yeah," she said, one last look in the mirror. "I'm all set."

"You okay?" Phoebe asked with a hand on Aviva's shoulder.

"I don't think looking into a mirror is ever going to be the same," she said in a low voice, her eyes on Phoebe in the reflection.

"Yeah, well, the demon's gone, Aviva – forever."

"Yeah well, unfortunately, all the other ones remain. It's so hard," she said with a little emphasis on the last two words, closing her eyes.

"Oh I know," Phoebe said with big eyes, putting her arm around Aviva and turning them around to face the door. "It was hard for me too, when I was your age."

"Yeah?"

"Are you kidding?" Phoebe asked as they left her room behind. "These are the hardest years of your life. The one thing I learned is you just have to be yourself."

"I'm really gonna miss being a witch," Aviva sighed. "Having powers. And having sisters," she said with a sideways glance at Phoebe.

"Yeah, well, you got your mom, and your aunt will be home from the hospital tomorrow," she said with a smile. "Okay, now remember," she reminded Aviva, while she was putting her jacket on. "Do not tell anyone about us Halliwell sisters, right? It's our little secret."

"I promise," Aviva promised, crossing her heart.

"Andy," Prue said, stopping him in his tracks to his apartment.

"Hey." He still walked past her; like he barely registered she was there. Prue, stunned for the second it took her to realize what had just happened, rushed after him.

"Uh, can we talk?" she asked, still catching up to him.

"Is there really anything to talk about?" he said, purely without emotion. She hated the sound of his voice; it was like it was hollow. Like he was hollow. But at least he turned around.

"Andy, I am sorry," she apologized softly.

"So am I," he snapped.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Come on Prue, who are we kidding?" he said sharply and she felt that same pang of worry she had felt when she asked him to meet her at Quake. Was this it? Was it really over? All because of some stupid secret… "I mean, let's face it," he continued. "One of us is obviously more interested in this relationship than the other."

"That's not true!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide at his words.

"Isn't it? Then how come I am always the one left standing there looking like a jerk?"

"I can explain-"

"No, you can't. Or you won't." He turned around again, heading away from her. Halfway to the front door he turned back to Prue, looking her over. "Damn it!" he cursed, almost stomping his foot. "I still love you, Prue! I'm not saying you have to explain it all to me, I mean, that's you prerogative!"

Slowly, while he spoke – or more like yelled – Prue walked up to him.

"All I'm saying is, it hurts that you don't trust me enough."

"I do trust you, Andy, is had nothing to do with you. It's just… It's just something that I don't know if I can ever share with anybody-" But then she realized she already had. Dean. And Andy must have seen the guilt on her face or read the way she jerked away from herself as a sign. Because the next thing out of his mouth all but crushed her.

"Well, I hope that's not true Prue. After all, you seem to be getting along so very well with that Dean guy. How can I possibly make you believe that I am every bit as much here for you, as he seems to be? Huh?"

"Andy," she breathed, her breath catching in her throat when she inhaled again. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't know what I want anymore."

Prue looked after him as he walked away from her, leaving her in the dark. She slumped together, the heaviness of the past couple of days finally crumbling her posture and she closed her eyes. The wind swept her hair into her face and when she headed back to her car, she was crying silently.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hi you guys! Okay, so, first of all, I am so sorry I haven't updated in so darn long! It's just been a really busy and weird year so far, but hopefully that's back to normal now. Thank you for the comments and mails and everything, I really appreciate it a ton!

* * *

**Chapter 6. Bending the truth**

He'd never heard his doorbell ring before. But he got up and opened the door, only to see Prue on the other side of the door, tears streaming down her face.

"Prue? What's wrong?" he asked, ushering her inside the neatly lived in apartment.

"I don't know," she sobbed, trying to breathe as she looked into those green eyes. He pulled her to him, working all on instinct as it seemed and cradled her head against his shoulder. She relaxed as his other hand stroked her back.

"It's okay, whatever it is, it's okay," he crooned at her, his voice low and husky. She closed her eyes, the flutter of her lashes on his neck.

"I- I-" She hiccupped. "I don't know how I found you," she said when she finally got it together.

He smiled. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't drive over here, but, here I am."

Dean released her down onto the couch, her tired body sinking down like it was too tired to keep itself upright for another second. She leaned, lying down and then she closed her eyes for a minute.

"Here you are," he said, kissing the top of her head. He pulled her shoes off, and managed to get her jacket off before he pulled the blanket over her and caressed her head.

He was watching an old football game when she came too again, almost an hour later. She looked at him, her eyes beyond exhausted and a little red around the edges from having cried. Her hair was a mess and she even had mascara running down her face. Just enough to be visable against her fair skin. He couldn't help it though; he thought she looked beautiful.

"Hey," she said, her voice scratchy and she blinked, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight."

"At night?" she mumbled, and he nodded. "I went to see Andy."

"And?"

"I have to figure out something to tell him," she said, her voice low. "Or I'm going to lose him."

Dean raised a hand and rubbed both his eyes and then swept the hand over his face. "Would that be so bad?" he finally asked.

"I don't know- I… I need to know if he can accept me. And all of me. Like you did."

He smiled. "But I'm not exactly normal," he said and his smile turned into a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the pillow she had fallen asleep on. "No, you're not, are you?"

What could he say to that?

He knew someday he had to tell her, everything, but was that day really today? Sure, he'd handled her secret, but how would she possibly be able to handle his? It was 1998, he was 19 years old in this time – if he existed in this time. Wow, he hadn't even thought about that one before. Did he exist here? If he didn, that meant there was a Sam and John out there, somewhere, on the road and…

"Dean," she said, her voice pulling him back to the then and there. "You were a million miles away. Where do you go when you do that?"

He smiled. "Kansas."

"Kansas?" she smiled.

"I was born there, grew up in this little house. Sort of," he said, jerking his eyes sideways and then smiling an uncomfortable smile.

"The house was sort of small, or you sort of grew up there?"

He laughed. "Both, actually."

"Why did you leave?"

His eyes glaced over, the memory of his mother filling his head like a bad dream he couldn't get rid of. "We uh," he stuttered, scratching the back of his head and leaning forward, his arms against his knees. "We lost my mother in a fire," he said, in all honesty. "So my dad picked up what was left of our family and we hit the road."

"Did you settle here?"

He shook his head. "No, no we didn't settle. We lived on the road, for the most part. Dad took jobs where he could find them," and he was honest, just not what kind of jobs.

"But, Dean," she said, sitting back up. "You're a hunter. How-"

The phone rang, the shrill sound cutting off Prue's latest question, one he didn't know he was ready to answer anyway.

"Dean," he barked into the phone. "It's for you," he said a couple of second later, holding the phone out for Prue. She got up and got it, swaying a little on her legs as she did. He put an arm around her waist, steadying her, and she leaned against him.

"I'll be right there," she said tiredly.

"What now?" he asked as she hung up.

"The usual," she sighed and headed for the door. She opened it and stood there, just then realizing she didn't have any shoes on and no jacket.

He smiled, handing her the jacket and her shoes. "Give me your keys," he encouraged. "You're way to tired to drive."

"Who better to drive," she mumbled as she pulled her shoes back on. "Than someone who grew up on the roads…"

Yeah. She really was tired, he decided.

* * *

The small crowd around the sisters seemed normal enough, and none of them were paying any attention what so ever to what they were talking about, or the fact that Phoebe was frantic as she shook the little eight ball.

She stared at the answer in utter disbelief. "'Ask again later'? Hello? Vague much?" she asked it and received two very amused looks from her sisters.

"What? How am I supposed to plan my future without a little direction?"

"Uhm-" Piper started but Prue cut her off.

"You, who can see the future, if now looking for guidance in a magic eight ball?" Prue raised one of those perfect eyebrows and smirked at her sister, which almost annoyed Phoebe more than if she had just been snarky.

"The visions don't help me, remember?" she said, making a somewhat annoyed face at her sister.

"I've got an idea," Piper said with a little smile, moving over to Phoebe. "Why don't we ask it if Prue and Andy will get back together?"

The line outside the movie theatre had started moving, but the sisters remained on the sidewalk.

"Oh Phoebe, please, no, don't," Prue pleaded, trying to look as vulnerable as she possibly could. She flashed back to the moment on Dean's couch earlier in the week, being tired and vulnerable and still being able to talk to him in a way she couldn't with them. How could she tell them she needed to tell Andy, and not have them freak out?

During the little time that had passed while Prue was pleading, Phoebe had shaken the ball and even gotten an answer. "Oh, that's interesting," she said, angling it towards Piper.

"Very," Piper commented over Phoebe's shoulder and Prue took half a step forward to have a look – only to have Phoebe shake it and the answer disappear.

"You two are cruel," Prue commented at the same time as the beeper at Piper's waist went off. Phoebe, chuckling, surrendered the eight ball to Prue when the grabbed it from her. Piper, ignoring both her sisters, made a muffled sound of annoyance and then glared at the eight ball.

"Ask it what a day off feels like," she huffed. "That was my boss, Martin and I have to get back to the restaurant."

Prue gave the line moving into the theatre a little look and then shook her head. "You have got to be kidding."

"Apparently, there's a conventions in town and business is just crazy."

Prue watched as Piper's shoulders sagged and her head tilted to the side. Piper had been working herself to the bone, something Prue was able enough to relate too, but this was nuts. She knew Piper really needed a day off – at least one night away from the restaurant would have done the trick. But apparently, Martin had other plans.

"You've been working double shifts all week," Phoebe protested. "He's working you to death Piper!" She looked more than a little annoyed, and Prue knew exactly what she meant.

"I thought you were going to talk to him about this weeks ago," Prue said in a very matter-of-factly way when Piper pulled out her cell-phone.

"I never got around to it," she said, and both her sisters could read the lie clear across her face.

"Yeah well," Phoebe said as Piper held the phone to her ear, waiting for a response. "Tell him to stuff it. Tell him you're taking the night off and that's that."

Piper, sweet and kind Piper, finally looked like she had given in at Phoebe's request when Martin answered on the other end.

"Hello, Martin? No I know what you want, but…" She took a heavy breath as Martin doubtlessly talked her into working. "…okay. No, it's not a problem. I'll be right there."

"Wow," Prue told her, trying to level her with her eyes. "You sure told him."

"Mm," Phoebe said in the same tone. "Beware the wrath of Piper."

Piper sighed and shook her head. "I will talk to him. Eventually. Look, I gotta go." She turned around and headed around, towards the car.

"Piper wait, I'll walk you to the car," Phoebe called, running after her. "It's safer," she explained as she hooked her arm into Piper's. Prue watched them walk away, the man bumping into Phoebe and the sudden flash cross her face. She knew that look.

Premonition.

* * *

The four cups were lined up on the counter as Piper filled each of them with coffee, the kitchen smelling like heaven from fried eggs and bacon, toast and even some oatmeal.

"Mornin'," Phoebe chirped, grabbing her box of cereal and a bowl as she passed them by.

"Hey," Piper protested, pointed to the fried eggs just as Phoebe poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Sorry, not in the mood," she said softly just as Prue walked in the kitchen to grab her cup of coffee from the counter, sitting down in the spot opposite Phoebe by the table. Piper, a little annoyed at her cooking being ignored, glared at the both of them when Prue looked up from her paper.

"Uh, is this leaded?"

"Always is," Piper answered as she helped herself to some eggs, bacon and toast before pushing a cup of coffee at Phoebe. But, the coffee saved just in time by Phoebe, the box of cereal is not so lucky. It tipped, hanging in the balance for a moment and then started plummeting towards the floor. A quick move of her hands and the carton suddenly froze in middle of nothing.

"Oops," she muttered and turned around to pull out the garbage bin, placing it under the box just as it unfroze and dropped into the garbage bag.

"Huh," Dean said with a little chuckle. "That's one way of cleaning up." His wide smirk made Piper shake her head.

"Mmhm, next time you can clean it up the old fashioned way if you like," and then she offered him a smirk of her own as his died. He rolled his eyes at her and then looked down at Prue, who smiled and got up from her seat while Dean comfortably took his.

She got the cup of coffee still standing on the counter, pushed it over to him and then looked at the eggs and bacon. "Want some?" She started plating some for herself, feeling the smell fill her head and suddenly she was starving.

"Please."

"Finally someone realizes there's real food," Piper said with a glare shot in the general direction of Phoebe and her bowl of cereal.

"Mm, smells good," Dean said with a smile as Prue handed him the other plate – the one almost overflowing with food compared to her not so full plate. He took a bite, humming in contentment and trying to tell Piper how good it was while his mouth was almost full still. Piper laughed, just as the door to the kitchen swung open and in walked one Leo Wyatt.

"Morning ladies," he said with eyes lingering on Piper. "And Dean," he quickly mended as Dean shot him a confused look. "I uh, took a look at the staircase. Shouldn't be more than two days work. So you mind if I get started?"

"No, not at all," Piper answered with a winning smile on her lips. "I'll get you some coffee," she said, while she was getting up and walking over to the coffee, but her face turned into a mask of soft frustration and anger as her beeper went off.

"Oops, you're busy," Phoebe said in a very chipper way that made Dean turn to look at Prue, her eyes on the paper but a smile on her face. She was clearly staying out of this one. "I'll get it for you," Phoebe said to Leo and he just nodded. "I'll be right out, Leo," she said sweetly and he turned around and left while she went to get a coffee cup.

"Okay."

Dean wasn't sure if he'd been the one to say okay, or if that had been Leo – or maybe if it had been the both of them.

"Uh, when are you two gonna stop fighting over him…"

"…and grow up?" Dean finished for her, and Prue gave him her best smile. He liked it when she smiled, it made him feel relaxed. Like nothing could be wrong with the world is a smile like that existed.

Piper, a bit aggravated, stole the cup Phoebe had gotten out of her hand and put the pot of coffee to the edges of it. "When Phoebe realizes she doesn't stand a chance," she said simply.

Phoebe huffed, looking a little peaked, but shrugged all the same. "It doesn't matter now anyway. I have an innocent to protect."

"So we'll call a temporary truce then?" Phoebe nodded. "Good, I'll just take this to Leo." With the cup in one hand, she grabbed her pager with the other and headed out of the kitchen, managing to gather up her coat and purse and other things, without spilling a drop of coffee. Dean looked after her, a little amazed.

Phoebe, plopping back down on her seat, resumed eating her cereal, that had turned slightly soggy and had lost the crunchy sound Dean always preferred when eating cereal. He hated soggy. But the eggs were delicious.

"You know you're only into him because Piper is, right?" Prue asked her and Phoebe looked up, trying to look bewildered.

"That is so not true," she said around her mouthful of cereal. "I'm wounded."

A few minutes went by; Phoebe finished her cereal, Prue getting a second cup of coffee, Dean wolfing down the eggs and bacon, staring on the toast and the jam that had appeared out of nowhere. He shot a grateful look at Prue who smiled back at him. The Phoebe sighed heavily, after putting her bowl in the sink and looked at Dean and Prue, still enjoying their breakfasts.

"How am I supposed to figure out who the girl in my vision is?" she asked them, her forehead creased in a very different way of concern – one Dean hadn't seen on her before.

"Uhm, what vision? What did I manage to miss now?" Dean asked and frowned. He didn't like how they seemed to end up in the weirdest situations and always someone seemed to get hurt.

"The one I had last night," Phoebe filled in.

"What was it about?"

She almost shrugged, he could see it in the way her shoulders moved. "There was this girl, and she, she got killed and I know I can stop it-"

"What? Wait, I thought you were going to the movies yesterday?" His frown grew a little deeper and Prue nodded.

"We were, but Piper got a call from work and she had to head back and it all sort of- Let's just say there was a dead body in the parking garage."

His eyes widened and then he shook his head. "The stuff you three get into." Silently he added 'makes the stuff I used to do every day pale in comparison' and whished he'd said it out loud. For once.

"Well, what did she look like?" Prue asked, stirring her coffee.

"Who?" Phoebe asked, totally distracted.

"The girl," Dean reminded her and almost smiled.

"I don't know," Phoebe said, hesitating. "Maybe, well, she was 5'3" and her hair was blond… ish. Light anyway."

"That's it?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows incredulously. She nodded.

"It's not a video tape. I can't exactly rewind it," she said, sounding a little annoyed. "Hey, you gotta talk to Andy," Phoebe said, pointing to Prue.

"What?" Both Prue and Dean spit the word out in reaction to Phoebe's words, and in the way she'd said it, you would have thought it was a brilliant idea. Of course it wasn't, or so Dean thought. He was shaking his head softly, which was countered by Prue shaking her head a little more forcefully.

"Well, if I can't find her," Phoebe said. "Then I have to find the killer before he gets to her."

"Well, have you checked the Book of Shadows?" Prue asked, trying to weasel her way out of Phoebe's demand. "From the way that you described your vision last night, it sounds like it could be demonic."

Dean nodded, not really agreeing since he hadn't heard the real description. Sure, Phoebe trusted him these days, but they still had a long way to go on the trust issues she had about telling him things. She thought he was hiding things. How right she was.

"Yeah, but for all we know, Andy's already hot on his trail. You have to go see him, find out."

"Can't," Prue countered, a simple word that had so much meaning to it.

"Won't," Dean said, raising his eyebrows and her and tilting his head down to give her that look he'd given Bobby a few times, even Cas had- He shook his head and something eluded him. He couldn't think of what.

"Oh give me a break," Prue snapped. "We just stopped seeing each other! Don't you think it might be a little awkward?"

"Okay, then how about I go see him and you look in the Book?"

Dean had to admire how stubborn she was thought. She'd get along great with Sa- There it was again. Like he'd forgotten something and it just slipped his mind all over again. He shook it off and smirked at Prue, who did not look pleased.

"Phoebe-"

"Prue, I had this vision for a reason, okay? I'm supposed to save her. I know it. I have to find her."

Phoebe, finished her coffee, stood up and left them alone with a soft bang of the back door.

"And what happens if you can't find her?" Dean asked with a pang of regret.

"Then she's an innocent lost."

He knew he shouldn't have asked.

* * *

Prue had discovered she didn't really like seeing Dean leave, and she didn't like the emptiness of the house anymore. Even if Leo was there, it was like the house was so much bigger and emptier these days. Maybe after everything that had happened during the past few weeks, the lingering nightmares of the guy who'd haunted her dreams and the feeling like there was something she should know but everyone just didn't tell her – because they didn't know either. It was wearing her down.

She headed up to the attic. There had to be something.

She'd beeg looking through the book for an hour. Nothing. So much nothing it wasn't funny. She barely knew what she was looking for anyway. She closed it and stepped away, thinking of coffee when the book flipped open, the sound making Prue turn around. She leaned over the page and stiffened.

_For those who want the truth revealed,_  
_opened hears and secrets unsealed_  
_from now until now again,_  
_after which the memory ends._  
_Those who now are in this house,_  
_Will hear the truths from other's mouths._

She touched her finger to the page and then shook her head, closing the book and leaving. The sound of the ruffling pages didn't disturb her this time because the book didn't open until after she was gone, landing on the truth spell once again.

* * *

The picture of Prue and Andy was one she loved; actually it was one of her favorite happy memories when it came to Andy. They looked so very much in love, and she hadn't thought she would feel that way about anyone just two years ago. Andy was her high school sweetheart and to have him back was a true dream come true. But as she looked at the picture, deep in thought, she couldn't help but faintly remember Dean. Lately he had been more in her life then Andy had been. He knew and he didn't care, in fact he seemed to care more about them as people then the fact that they were witches. Prue got shaken from her thoughts as she heard steps. Phobe.

"Hey."

"Hey," she answered, putting the frame back on the desk while Phoebe closed the door behind her.

"Can I borrow your laptop?" Phoebe asked, barely three steps into the office. "I need to do some surfing on the web. See if I can find anything on the burns on the victim's forehead," she added, then she let out a soft laugh at the look on Prue's face. "What?"

"Nothing. I mean, I've never thought of you as really computer friendly."

"Are you kidding? Chat rooms saved my life," Phoebe says, trying to pass it off as half a joke while knowing deep inside that Prue isn't buying it.

"Ah," Prue said, getting the laptop, still in its bag, from the spot she put it in. "Uhm, so, did you… did you talk to Andy?" she asked, handing Phoebe the laptop bag as she did.

"Actually, I spoke to his partner instead."

"You told Morris?" Prue felt her eyes widen and felt a wave of concern.

"About the case? I didn't have to," Phoebe said, sounding a little to unconcerned. "Every inspector at the station was talking about last nights murder already. The only problem is, they're stumped about it." She looked down at the bag. "Did you find anything in the Book of Shadows?"

She considered telling Phoebe right then, tell her about the spell and just be done with it. But her mouth had other plans. "Uhm, I'm not sure. So, you didn't see Andy then?"

"No, I said. I didn't talk to Andy. I saw him in the parking lot when I left. But… He had that look Prue. You know the one I'm talking about." Her eyes raked over Prue's face. "You might recognize it from the mirror? He really cares about you."

"Yeah," Prue snapped. "Don't you think I know that?"

"So what are you waiting for?"

Prue frowned, looking away. What was she waiting for?

"Tell him the truth; it's the only thing standing between you guys."

Prue felt that familiar lump in her throat. "Tell him what? That I'm a witch? I can't do that! What if, if he can't handle it? It's not like I can put the genie back in the bottle!" Her eyes were stinging and most of all she wanted Phoebe to go away and take what Prue was the right thing to do with her when she left.

"He's not going to turn you in to the warlock police," Phoebe said, oblivious to how scared her sister really was. "At least you'd know how he feels once and for all, right? Otherwise, you'll never know if it could've worked out of not." She shrugged and put her hand on her hip. "If I were you, I would figure out a way to tell him." She pursed her lips and then looked Prue in the eye. "Thank you for the laptop."

Prue looked at her sister turn and leave, feeling her chest close up and the lump in her throat grow bigger. She hated having to lie to Andy, but risking the truth was worse. Through the open door Tanya peeked in, her cart of sandwiches with her. Prue smiled at her, as usual when she popped her head in, knocking on the door lightly.

"Sandwhich?"

"Hey Tanya. And sure," she said, getting up from her seat to get her sandwich. Tanya, always a sweetheart, handed her a turkey no mayo sandwich – which she'd saved for Prue – and they talked for a bit about mostly nothing. "Bye."

"Bye."

Closing the door behind her, Tanya left and Prue was suddenly alone with her thoughts again. Putting the sandwich on her desk she looked back at the picture on her desk.

* * *

Prue ran a hand through her hair, looking at the Book of Shadows lying open in the attic. With a sigh, she nodded. "Okay, you win."

* * *

On the front porch however, at the pretty much exact same time as Prue was in the attic, Piper was unlocking the front door with some difficulty. Her arms were full, barely containing the bags of books, at the same time as she was attempting to open the door. Not the easiest task in the world, mind you.

"Hey stranger, back from the war?"

Piper sighed as Phoebe came into her line of sight as the door swung open with a bang. "No, more likes I brought the battle home with me," she said bitterly. "Inventory."

Feeling one of the bags starting to slip, Piper let out a tiny whimper that Phoebe didn't hear. The bag slipped, about to crash to the ground, and was caught before it hit the ground. From the inside of the house.

"Hey, woah, you okay?" Dean asked, taking another one of the bags from her arms. Piper smiled at him, her heavy load less heavy and the relief of not having to collect all the papers from the ground.

"Just overworked, underpaid and tired. A little help?" she smiled and Dean took another bag, his stronger arms taking the heavier load of the workload Piper had brought home with her. Phoebe rolled her eyes as Piper and Dean disappear into the house.

* * *

Prue raked another hand through her hair and let out a shallow breath.

_"For those who want the truth revealed,_

_Opened heart and secrets unsealed,_

_From now until it's now again,_

_After which the memory ends."_

Secretly Prue hoped it wouldn't work. At the same time, she really hoped it would.

* * *

"So… what are you doing here?" Phoebe asked, sounding a little suspicious at the same time as Dean smiled.

"I was returning Prue's phone. She left it at my apartment the other night."

Piper frowned, putting the books she had left in her arms on the table in the living room. "She was really bad for it, wasn't she?"

Licking his lips, Dean nodded with a slight crease between his eyebrows. "And I take it you didn't talk to your boss?"

"Of course I did, just like I said I would." She slumped in the couch, looking at Dean as he set the other three bags of books down. Phoebe sat down next to her with a semi-doubtful look. She wouldn't ever agree with Dean, unless he proved himself more first, but she couldn't help feeling the guy knew things based on instinct and nothing else.

"Am I getting a zit on my chin?" Piper asked, her fingers circling the same little spot.

Phoebe leaned forward to look, then shook her head. "Can't even see it."

Dean shook his head, sitting down in the chair opposite them.

"Thos who now are in this house,

will hear the truth from others' mouths."

She looked around, feeling the magic flow through her for a second.

Dean got up from his seat, pulling his shirt right from sitting down, and smiled at the sisters on the couch. He wondered how Prue had gotten such blue eyes, almost like ice in large amounts, while the other two had darker, richer eyes that were nothing like Prue's. "Okay, I'm out. I've got a long, not at all hard, day ahead of me tomorrow," he grinned.

Phoebe grinned, despite herself, and Piper's face turned into a mock sneer. "Bye," they said in unison as he left the living room, and they waved over their shoulders at him.

* * *

Ooooh-kidoki, so that's chapter 6 - not corrected I might add so if there's any funny business, you're very welcome to tell me so :)

Again, thank you for sticking with me!


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